Toyota and Mazda Motor announced on Wednesday that they have chosen a site in northern Alabama, near Huntsville, automaker 1.6 billion, which Japanese manufacturers plan to build together, according to a person that is familiar to them. Business plans.
Details of the assembly plant, which employs about 4,000 employees are expected to be open by 2021, with representatives of state and local authorities in Montgomery, said at a press conference announced the person.
A spokeswoman for Toyota, Amanda Roark, declined to comment.
Toyota already operates four automotive plants in the USA, Indiana, Kentucky, Texas, and Mississippi. It also has 2 in Ontario as well as a small truck factory in Mexico. In Salamanca, Mexico, Mazda has also a single North American plant.
The location of the facility was first reported by Reuters.
The new plant in Alabama to assemble a new version of the Toyota Corolla compact car after completion. Mazda has not yet told which car will produce the joint plant. The plant, which will have the capacity to manufacture up-to 300,000 cars yearly, is part of Toyota’s initiative to invest $10 billion over the next five years.
When companies revealed in August that they would work together in a new plant in the United States, the news was welcomed by President Trump, who urged automakers to produce more vehicles here, hoping to create jobs. The president also criticized Ford Motor, General Motor and others for the construction or expansion of factories in Mexico.
Toyota and Mazda are moving ahead with the system at a time when new car sales in the US are declining. Total revenue declined by 1.8% to $ 17.2 million in 2017, ending a growth period of seven years. Analysts expect further declines in 2018 and 2019.
