Toyota announced a US $170-million expansion at its assembly plant in Apaseo el Grande, Guanajuato, that will generate 500 new jobs, adding to the 1,000 it already provides.

The plant, Toyota’s second in Mexico, was inaugurated in February, and the expansion will allow the company to increase its production of Tacoma pickup trucks from 100,000 to 138,000 units per year in 2022, all destined for the North American market.

The investment comes after this summer’s signing of the new trade treaty between Mexico, the United States and Canada, which replaces NAFTA.

The automaker has decided to move all production of the popular Tacoma to Guanajuato, which will produce all Tacomas sold in North America. Its Texas plant, which previously made the model, will switch to producing the Sequoia SUV.

Guanajuato economic development director Jesús Fernando Vera Noble noted that although Toyota’s plant is in Apaseo El Grande, all areas of the industrial corridor from Celaya to Silao, including Salamanca and Irapuato, will be favorably impacted by the economic growth generated by the company.

Between January and August, Toyota Mexico produced 80,798 Tacoma units and shipped all of them to U.S. dealerships, where Tacoma sales fell 19.8% during the second quarter of the year; sales of Toyota’s sedan, the Corolla, fell 45.6%.

The automotive industry in Mexico has seen a drop of 64.5% due to the coronavirus pandemic, but industry leaders are banking on the sector’s comeback here, as well as in the United States and Canada.

Volkswagen has announced that its plant in Puebla will begin producing the Taos SUV on October 13 which will also generate new jobs.

“For its start-up, we have prepared the most modern production line of our plants and with this SUV we will significantly increase our production volume next year. The Puebla plant has raised the name of Volkswagen Mexico,” said Steffen Reiche, president of Volkswagen Mexico.

Source: El Universal (sp)