Toyota’s $391 million upgrade to its San Antonio plant culminated Wednesday in the rollout of its redesigned 2023 Sequoia, a full-sized hybrid SUV to be manufactured entirely at its plant on the South Side.
The plant, which has the capacity to produce 200,000 vehicles a day, will exclusively make the Tundra truck and Sequoia, which replaced the smaller Tacoma pickup line made at the site before its production was moved earlier this year to Mexico.
Toyota Motor Manufacturing Texas commemorated the rollout in a showroom event on Wednesday. Mayor Ron Nirenberg and Bexar County Judge Nelson Wolff, as well as state Rep. John Lujan (R-San Antonio) helped mark the occasion.
In a brief speech, Nirenberg said the event was about more than a new vehicle. “This is another welcome milestone demonstrating Toyota has confidence in our city and in our workforce,” he said.
“Manufacturing is the future of San Antonio,” Wolff said, highlighting Toyota’s role in attracting suppliers and helping establish Texas FAME apprenticeship program, which seeks to develop San Antonio’s manufacturing workforce. “None of this would have occurred without Toyota making its decision to come here in 2003.”
Toyota’s entry into San Antonio in 2003 sparked the region’s transformation into an auto manufacturing hub. Some 3,800 Toyota employees work at its San Antonio campus, joined by roughly 5,300 employees for nearly two dozen on-site suppliers, according to the company.
In 2019, Toyota announced it was spending $391 million — bringing its total investment in the plant to more than $3 billion — to upgrade the assembly lines in San Antonio, which paved the way for the Tundra and Sequoia to be built exclusively in Texas. Toyota’s suppliers and other automotive manufacturers followed with their own announcements of new investments.
A year ago, Aisin AW, which makes automatic transmissions, opened a $400 million plant in Cibolo. Continental Structural Plastics, a subsidiary of Japan-based Teijin Automotive Technologies, built a composites manufacturing plant in Seguin, where it manufactures components for Toyota Tundras.
In 2019, heavy-duty truck manufacturer Navistar announced plans to build a $250 million plant in San Antonio. Last year it expanded that investment, and the plant became operational this year.
A 2019 report commissioned by Greater:SATX estimated that Toyota’s investment and ripple effect with suppliers would deliver around 40,000 total jobs and $10 billion in economic impact to the region over a 10-year period.
Toyota’s recent transformation of its plant allows it to use new laser welding technology and a new production process that stamps out “the largest sheet of metal in Toyota history,” according to the company.
Toyota Texas President Kevin Voelkel said the Sequoia would be the largest SUV offered by the company.
“Every time you see a Sequoia or Tundra on the road, I hope you feel the same sense of pride I feel knowing these trucks were born in Texas and built by Texans,” he said.
Toyota introduced the Sequoia in 2000 as the first Japanese-made full-size SUV. The vehicle was previously manufactured at Toyota’s plant in Princeton, Indiana. The upcoming model year, marking its third generation, is the first time the line will be sold as a hybrid, and is available only as a hybrid.
Last year more than 8,000 Sequoias were sold in the U.S., according to year-end sales figures.
The 2023 Sequoia, which starts at $58,000, will be offered at dealerships beginning next month.
