US president-elect Donald Trump, who has been slamming automakers for selling cars made outside the US, has threatened Toyota in his latest tweet, hours after lashing out at General Motors for its plans to make cars in Mexico other than US.
Make in USA or pay more: Donald Trump's ultimatum forces Ford to scrap Mexico plant; GM faces heat
Trump, in his continuing twitter tirade against the auto majors, warned Toyota against making Corolla for US in Mexico. He said doing so will face huge tariff. Trump, who threatened to impose "big border tax" tweeted, "Toyota Motor said will build a new plant in Baja, Mexico, to build Corolla cars for U.S. NO WAY! Build plant in U.S. or pay big border tax." Trump's' tweet is a reference to Toyota's new plant -- which was announced in April 2015 -- which would make 200,000 Corolla compact cars per annum for the North American market starting 2019.
Toyota Motor said will build a new plant in Baja, Mexico, to build Corolla cars for U.S. NO WAY! Build plant in U.S. or pay big border tax.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 5, 2017
Toyota, in a response to Trump's tweet, said that the new plant in Mexico will not have any impact on the production of Toyota in US and also will not cost jobs in the country. The company also expressed its willingness to work closely with the new administration in US.
"Toyota looks forward to collaborating with the Trump Administration to serve in the best interests of consumers and the automotive industry," the company said.
Earlier this week, Trump had turned up the heat on General Motors for its decision to send Mexican made Chevy hatchbacks to US. While it was the first time Trump targeted GM in its tweet, Ford Motors Company has been facing the heat for a while, after which Ford decided to call off its plans to build a plant in Mexico. Ford announced that company will now invest $700 million in metro Detroit's Flat Rock Assembly plant in the state of Michigan and will also add 700 new jobs in the unit.
But that is not the end of the story. Reuters reports that Trump's threat to impose big tax on the vehicles manufactured outside US would have bigger impact on Nissan Motor Co than anyone else as the company's Mexico plant contributes to one-quarter of Nissan's total vehicle sales in the US. Japan's second-largest automaker Nissan, which went to Mexico 50 year ago, now produces more than 800,000 cars in that facility.
