Toyota on Tuesday unveiled a $912 million investment in US manufacturing, days after CEO Akio Toyoda hosted a red, white and blue NASCAR event in Japan while sporting a Trump-Vance shirt and red MAGA hat.
The Sunday spectacle at Toyota’s Fuji Speedway featured top drivers, a crowd waving American flags and an appearance from US Ambassador to Japan George Glass, according to Automotive News.
The top Toyota exec nodded to recent US-Japan trade tensions during his bold display of pro-Trump sentiment.
“I’m not here to argue whether tariffs are good or bad. Every national leader wants to protect their own industry,” Toyoda said ahead of the endurance race.
“We are exploring ways to make tariffs a winner for everyone. The people we want most to be winners are our customers.”
Japan is facing a roughly 15% baseline tariff on auto imports, slashed down from 27.5% as part of a trade agreement in September.
“Start your engines!” Glass’ account tweeted Sunday alongside pics of him and Toyoda, who’s the grandson of Toyota Motors founder Kiichiro Toyoda. “Looking forward to celebrating the culture of [US] motorsports again next year” as part of America’s 250th-anniversary festivities in Japan, he added.
Toyota, the second-largest seller of new vehicles in the US behind General Motors, on Tuesday announced its nearly $1 billion investment will ramp up hybrid vehicle production across the Southern US.
It’s part of a previously announced plan by the Japanese automaker to invest up to $10 billion in the US by 2030, which President Trump revealed last month. Most of the investments are expected to be completed by 2027.
Toyota already leads hybrid vehicle production with more than 51% market share through the third quarter of this year, according to Motor Intelligence data.
But the company is looking to further increase manufacturing of hybrid-compatible engines and vehicles at certain American facilities.
“Customers are embracing Toyota’s hybrid vehicles, and our US manufacturing teams are gearing up to meet that growing demand,” Kevin Voelkel, senior vice president of manufacturing operations, said in a statement.
“Toyota’s philosophy is to build where we sell, and by adding more American jobs and investing across our US footprint, we continue to stay true to that philosophy.”
Of the investments announced Tuesday, the largest is $453 million toward Toyota’s Buffalo, W. Va., plant to ramp up the assembly of four-cylinder, hybrid-compatible engines.
Another $204.4 million is going toward the automaker’s Georgetown, Ky., plant to increase production of the same engines.
Toyota says it is also sending $125 million to expand production of Corolla vehicles and add hybrid vehicle production at its Blue Springs, Miss., factory.
The automaker is also investing $71.4 million in its Jackson, Tenn., plant and $57.1 million in its Troy, Mo., facility.
The investments are expected to create 252 new jobs, according to Toyota.
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