Toyota to Move California Facility and Jobs to Texas

Toyota Motor Corp. is planning to move a large number of its jobs and its marketing headquarters to Dallas from Torrance, according to a report from The Los Angeles Times.

This would help the company create a brand new North American headquarters and put the management team closer to where the company makes its cars for this market.

Employees were supposed to be briefed of the news on Monday by North American Chief Executive Jim Lentz. At the Torrance complex there are some 3,500 employees. It will take several years for the move to be completed. Toyota has been in Southern California for quite some time. Its first office in the United States opened in 1957 in Hollywood.

The national sales and marketing headquarters in Torrance opened in 1982.

The mayor of Torrance, Frank Scotto, said that he received no warning of the decision from Toyota. He also said he had no knowledge of the company making an announcement on Monday.

“When any major corporation is courted by another state, it’s very difficult to combat that,” Scotto said. “We don’t have the tools we need to keep major corporations here.”

Scotto noted that companies pay higher costs for liability insurance and workers’ compensation in California.

“A company can easily see where it would benefit by relocating someplace else,” Scotto said.

Lentz has been tasked with moving the company’s headquarters for North America closer to its manufacturing hubs, which are mainly in the South. The primary factories for the company are in Kentucky, Mississippi and Texas. The Camry and Avalon are built in Kentucky. In Mississippi, the Corolla is built and in Texas, the Tundra and Tacoma pickup are built.

There is a large engine plant in Alabama. Next year, the company will begin manufacturing Lexus for the first time in the United States. This will take place in Kentucky.

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