Toyota planning new Mexico production facility

Following a path blazed by most of the world’s major automakers, Toyota is said to be searching for a location in Mexico to establish a new production base.

Toyota is keeping quiet on the matter, but two inside sources revealed to Bloomberg on Wednesday that the world’s largest automaker by volume is currently holding talks with Mexican officials about a possible location for the new plant. Negotiations are said to be in the early stages, with several Mexican states still in play.

So far there has been no mention of what products Toyota might make at the Mexico plant. The scope of Toyota’s Mexico plant also remains unknown at this time.

If Toyota moves forward with the plan, it would continue a recent string of automotive investments in the country. Since June, Kia, BMW and a Daimler-Nissan joint-venture have all announced plans to establish new plants in Mexico. Those three factories will represent a combined $3 billion investment.

Toyota doesn’t currently run any full-fledged operations in Mexico, but it does have a small plant near Tijuana that makes the Tacoma pickup truck. Mazda’s Guanajuato plant is also on contract to build 50,000 vehicle per year for Toyota.