Trump Tweet Targets Toyota Plant
CARS.COM — President-elect Donald Trump has extended his Twitter attacks on Mexican auto plants, threatening Toyota with his first tweet aimed at a foreign automaker selling in the U.S.
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He made his point, but seemed in his tweet to misfire about the plant in question. Trump wrote on Thursday: “Toyota Motor said will build a new plant in Baja, Mexico, to build Corolla cars for the U.S. NO WAY! Build plant in U.S. or pay big border tax.”
While “Baja” fits better in 140 characters, Toyota broke ground in 2016 on a new plant to build Corollas for multiple markets in Apaseo el Grande, Guanajuato, in central Mexico. Toyota does have a plant in Baja, but the operation, which was established in 2002, manufactures truck beds and Tacoma pickups.
Toyota responded by citing its major presence in the U.S. for decades and saying that the new plant would not replace jobs in the U.S.: “Production volume or employment in the U.S. will not decrease as a result of our new plant in Guanajuato, Mexico, announced in April 2015. With more than $21.9 billion direct investment in the U.S., 10 manufacturing facilities, 1,500 dealerships and 136,000 employees, Toyota looks forward to collaborating with the Trump Administration to serve in the best interests of consumers and the automotive industry.”
Trump’s Toyota shaming follows a similar tweet on Tuesday attacking GM for making some Chevrolet Cruze compact hatchbacks for the U.S. in Mexico. He also trumpeted Ford’s decision announced the same day to drop plans to spend $1.6 billion to build a new plant in Mexico for the Focus compact sedan, though Ford said it still will build the Focus there in the future at an existing plant.
It’s unclear how many Corollas would come to the U.S. from Mexico when the plant comes online, which Toyota says will be 2019. Toyota already builds Corollas in Mississippi for the U.S., churning out 190,515 in 2015. According to the Wall Street Journal, Toyota will keep making Corollas in Mississippi when the new plant opens, but will shift Corolla production there from its current plant in Cambridge, Ontario.
The Corolla finished 2016 as the No. 2 best-selling compact sedan in the U.S. after the Honda Civic, with 360,483 sold, according to Autodata Corp.
