Toyota, Mazda teaming up to build $1.6B US factory

Japanese automakers Toyota Motor Corp. and Mazda are partnering to build a new $1.6 billion U.S. assembly plant that would create 4,000 new jobs.

The automakers announced Friday that the new plant will be operational by 2021 but did not say where it will be built. 

President Trump, who vowed to bring manufacturing jobs back to the U.S. in his campaign, praised the announcement in a tweet Friday.

Toyota & Mazda to build a new $1.6B plant here in the U.S.A. and create 4K new American jobs. A great investment in American manufacturing!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 4, 2017

Trump had attacked Toyota in January over its plans to build a new factory in Guanajuato, Mexico, threatening to impose a border tax on Toyota cars.  

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Under the deal announced on Friday, Toyota and Mazda will both acquire shares of each other. Toyota is the world’s second largest automobile producer by volume and will take a 5 percent stake in Mazda. Mazda will acquire Toyota shares equal in value.

The partnership will focus on developing new electric vehicles. The two companies will also work together to “develop connected technology and collaborate on advanced safety technologies.”

“Toyota and Mazda have been working more closely together, so it is no surprise they will have a plant together,” Autotrader.com analyst Michelle Krebs told USA Today about the deal. 

Mazda also looks to benefit from the deal, as it will gain valuable production capacity in the U.S., the company’s biggest market, according to the report. Currently, Mazda ships all cars to the U.S. from its factories in Japan and Mexico. Toyota has six plants in the U.S., mostly in the South.