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The Wall Street Journal and other news outlets are reporting that Toyota will announce a major restructuring tomorrow that affects the big Toyota Motor Sales U.S.A. complex in Torrance. The only question seems to be how many of the 5,000 jobs will move to Texas. City officials in Torrance say they have been told only to expect big news. The Dallas Morning News says tonight that Toyota plans to "move a big chunk of its U.S. headquarters from California to West Plano," outside of Dallas. Toyota is said to be negotiating purchase of an office site for more than 4,000 workers. The LA Times story tonight says the news will essentially shift Toyota's U.S. headquarters to Texas, after a half-century.
From the WSJ:
Toyota's U.S. sales operations have been based in southern California since 1957. Toyota has expanded its operations in the area to include product planning, vehicle design, consumer finance and logistics. The auto maker also has a small manufacturing operation in Long Beach, Calif.
Details of the scope of the reorganization, and whether Toyota plans to move a significant number of jobs out of California to other states, weren't clear Sunday. Two people familiar with the company's plans said some operations could move to Texas. The company declined to comment on what it called rumors.The company confirmed that it was restructuring its marketing organization. It said employees "whose positions are significantly different in the new organization have been provided with several options, including applying for opportunities within the new marketing organization or in other departments at TMS or Toyota Financial Services."
From the Dallas paper:
The automotive manufacturer has been in talks for months with real estate owners and developers in Plano, real estate brokers familiar with the project say.
Toyota plans to seek incentives from the City of Plano and the State of Texas for the move, which is scheduled to be announced on Monday.Bloomberg News reported Sunday that the move will involve “substantial parts” of Toyota’s U.S. headquarters located in Torrance, near Los Angeles. The operations there have thousands of workers who handle sales, finance, marketing, engineering and product planning for the automaker.
Toyota is moving the jobs out of California to seek lower operating costs, Bloomberg quoted sources.
The Los Angeles Times lede:
Toyota Motor Corp. plans to move large numbers of jobs from its sales and marketing headquarters in Torrance to suburban Dallas, according to a person familiar with the automaker's plans.
The move, creating a new North American headquarters, would put management of Toyota's U.S. business close to where it builds most cars for this market.North American Chief Executive Jim Lentz is expected to brief employees Monday, said the person, who was not authorized to speak publicly. Toyota declined to detail its plans. About 5,300 people work at Toyota's Torrance complex. It is unclear how many workers will be asked to move to Texas. The move is expected to take several years.
Toyota has long been a Southern California fixture. Its first U.S. office opened in a closed Rambler dealership in Hollywood in 1957. The site is now a Toyota dealership....The U.S. branch picked Los Angeles for its first headquarters because of proximity to the port complex — where it imported cars — and easy airline access to Tokyo.
But today most Toyota cars sold in the U.S. are manufactured in the U.S.
