Japanese carmaker Toyota will invest $10 billion in the United States over the next five years to meet demand and upgrade plants, the company’s North America chief executive Jim Lentz told Reuters on Monday.
Lentz’s remarks came days after President-Elect Donald Trump slammed Toyota on Friday for its plans announced in April 2015 to shift production of its popular Corolla model to a new plant in Mexico starting 2019.
Toyota Motor said will build a new plant in Baja, Mexico, to build Corolla cars for U.S. NO WAY! Build plant in U.S. or pay big border tax.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) 5 January 2017
“Build plant in US or pay big border tax,” Trump said, misstating the location of the new plant as Baja. Toyota already has a plant in Baja; and the new one coming up is in Guanajuato.
The company’s $10 billion investment announced this week was not in response to the president-elect’s remarks, but rather part of the automaker’s business strategy, Lentz told Reuters.
Toyota began planning for the new plant in Mexico two years before it was announced in 2015, the chief executive said, adding that he hadn’t spoken with Trump.
Since his election, Trump has been vocal in criticism of companies producing goods in Mexico intended for sale in the US.
Toyota shares plunged steeply on Friday minutes after the president-elect’s tweet, with the company losing around $1.2 billion in value.
In a statement issued on Jan. 5, the carmaker said that “production volume or employment in the US will not decrease as a result of our new plant in Guanajuato, Mexico, announced in April 2015.”
“Toyota looks forward to collaborating with the Trump Administration to serve in the best interests of consumers and the automotive industry,” the statement added.
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