NAGOYA, Japan -- Toyota Motor will scale back a project to build a new auto plant in Mexico, reducing investment by 30% and slashing output capacity by 50% from the original plan, as part of a North American realignment to increase U.S. production.
The Japanese automaker initially said it would invest $1 billion to start making 200,000 units of the popular Corolla sedan yearly in the state of Guanajuato in 2019. But the plant instead will build Tacoma pickup trucks, whose sales are increasing, helped by cheap gasoline. Investment will now be reduced to $700 million, with annual volume slashed to 100,000 units.
