Toyota Pledges to Invest Up to $10 Billion in Its US Operations

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(Bloomberg) — Toyota Motor Corp. confirmed it will plow as much as $10 billion into the US over the next five years to boost its local operations, less than a month after President Donald Trump flagged the Japanese carmaker planned such an investment.

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The announcement clears up a confusing moment from Trump’s visit to Tokyo last month, when he said Toyota would build plants all over the US “to the tune of over $10 billion.” At the time, the automaker wouldn’t confirm such a plan, calling it mere “speculation.” 

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In a statement marking the start of production at its new battery plant in North Carolina on Wednesday, the automaker provided no further detail, saying only it will spend the funds “to support future mobility efforts.”   

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Toyota’s top executive in the US, Ted Ogawa, said the battery plant and new investment “marks a pivotal moment in our company’s history.”

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The investment announcement comes as the Trump administration pressures the global auto industry to shift more production to the US and imposed punitive tariffs on many car parts and vehicles sourced from abroad. The president called out Toyota by name earlier this year for importing too many vehicles from Japan to the US, and also singled it out during this first administration for building up manufacturing operations in Mexico.

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In an attempt to blunt that earlier criticism, Toyota promised in 2017 to invest $13 billion in US manufacturing. The company said earlier this year that it had spent those funds and that its total investment in the US currently exceeds $50 billion — spread over nearly seven decades. 

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The Japanese company imported about half of the vehicles it sold in the US last year, mostly from Canada and Mexico but also including some 281,000 vehicles made in Japan. 

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The latest investment commitment was timed to coincide with the official opening of Toyota’s newest plant, a lithium-ion battery manufacturing facility located near Greensboro, North Carolina. Construction of the factory in the rural town of Liberty cost $13.9 billion and production is expected to slowly ramp up over the next decade. Toyota said it will create 5,100 new jobs and supply both hybrid gas-electric and all-electric models.

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Swift About-Face

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When Toyota first announced the US battery plant project in 2021, it envisioned a steady rise in Americans’ demand for EVs due in part to then-President Joe Biden’s efforts to speed adoption of zero-emission vehicles with favorable policies. Trump’s return to the White House has led to a swift about-face in federal emissions regulations, including the abandonment of incentives for EV buyers such as a $7,500 tax credit. 

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Toyota has said 10 of the new battery facility’s 14 production lines will be dedicated to battery cells for fully electric vehicles such as an as-yet-unnamed all-electric SUV to be built in Kentucky. The remaining lines — some of which are currently operational — have been earmarked to supply hybrid models such as the Camry mid-size sedan and hybrid versions of the Corolla Cross compact crossover and best-selling RAV4 compact SUV.