Toyota announced on Monday that it is moving its North American headquarters from Torrance, California, to the Dallas suburb of Plano, Texas. Rumors of the impending move started to swirl over the weekend.
The move will see Toyota’s three separate North American headquarters for manufacturing, sales and marketing, and corporate operations relocated to a single campus just north of Dallas. Toyota’s North American finance arm will also eventually located to the new Plano facility.
According to Toyota, the move to Texas will affect about 2,000 people at its current Torrance headquarters, 1,000 employees at its Erlanger, Kentucky, engineering and manufacturing hub, and certain employees at Toyota Motor North America in New York City. Another 1,000 workers from Toyota Financial Services (TFS) will also be uprooted from California to Michigan.
Toyota will start construction on its new North American HQ this fall, with construction expected to completed in either late 2016 or early 2017. Small groups of Toyota employees will work out of temporary workspaces until the facility is completed. TFS will remain in California until 2017.
In addition to the new Texas HQ, Toyota will also expand its Toyota Technical Center near Ann Arbor, Michigan, to accommodate the relocation of direct procurement from Erlanger.
“With our major North American business affiliates and leaders together in one location for the first time, we will be better equipped to speed decision making, share best practices, and leverage the combined strength of our employees,” Jim Lentz, Toyota’s North American CEO, said. “This, in turn, will strengthen our ability to put customers first and to continue making great products that exceed their expectations.”
In order to soften the blow for the communities in California and Kentucky, Toyota has announced a $10 million philanthropic commitment for non-profits and community organizations. Toyota will support the communities for an additional 5 years starting in 2017.
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