Toyota Tacoma to Hitch a Ride From the Lone Star State

The perennially popular Toyota Tacoma will move all of its assembly south of the Rio Grande under a recently announced production switch-up.

When the ancient Sequoia full-size SUV enters a new generation, and along with it the Tundra pickup, it won’t stay at its present Princeton, Indiana home. Toyota plans to move Sequoia production southward to Texas, punting Tacoma output to a country that’s no stranger to the midsize pickup.

News of the production switcheroo came as Toyota announced the completion of the Indiana plant’s $1.3 billion modernization effort. There, production has already begun on the redesigned 2020 Highlander and Highlander Hybrid; the plant also handles the Sienna minivan and, until 2022, the body-on-frame Sequoia. Retooling for the next-gen Highlander carried a $700 million price tag.

Apparently, Toyota thought it best to boost efficiency by sending to next Sequoia to live with its platform mate, the Tundra, Automotive News reports. The inclusion of the Tacoma at the San Antonio plant came in 2010, as the automaker scrambled to eliminate excess capacity at its U.S. assembly plants. The economy’s in far better shape these days, and Toyota, while flush with cash, isn’t immune to cost-saving suggestions.

Once San Antonio gears up for the revamped Tundra and Sequoia, Tacoma production will move fully to Mexico. Two plants in that country — Guanajuato and Tijuana — already handle the bulk of the automaker’s Tacoma production.

While the Sequoia is an ancient thing, like the Tundra, it manages to sell in steady numbers to U.S. consumers, making its revamp a bottom-of-the-list concern for its parent company. Current-gen Sequoia production kicked off in late 2007, a year after the present Tundra. As for the Tacoma, the addition of the Ford Ranger to the midsize pickup scene in 2019 didn’t take much wind from its sales. Volume rose 1.3 percent for the year.

[Images: Toyota]