Car manufacturer Toyota today announced that it will be moving its corporate headquarters to Plano, Texas, a suburb of Dallas.
The new headquarters will unify the company’s sales and marketing; manufacturing; and corporate operations headquarters in one central location. Those divisions are currently headquartered in three separate locations: Torrance, California; Erlanger, Kentucky; and New York City.
Over the next three years around 4,000 current Toyota employees from those three locations will be affected by the transition, with half coming from the Torrance headquarters. Small groups of employees will relocate to Plano starting this summer, though the majority of employees will not be moved to Texas until late 2016 or early 2017.
Toyota’s 10 U.S. manufacturing plants will not be affected by the move. In addition, some 300 production engineering jobs will be moved from Erlanger to a new facility planned to be built at the company’s Georgetown, Kentucky manufacturing plant.
“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,” said Jim Lentz, CEO of Toyota’s North American operations. “This, in turn, will strengthen our ability to put customers first and to continue making great products that exceed their expectations. Ultimately, enabling greater collaboration and efficiencies across Toyota will help us become a more dynamic, innovative and successful organization in North America. This is the most significant change we’ve made to our North American operations in the past 50 years, and we are excited for what the future holds.”
The groundbreaking for Toyota’s new Plano headquarters will take place sometime this fall. Construction is expected to take at least two years.
Toyota’s move will affect the Torrance and Erlanger communities significantly, taking both jobs and tax revenue to Texas. To ease the burden on these cities Toyota has promised to commit $10 million to non-profit and community organizations in those communities starting in 2017.
Image via Toyota