Toyota is a Japanese automotive manufacturer company, founded by Kiichiro Toyoda in 1937. It is the largest automobile manufacturer in the world and produces more than 10 million vehicles annually.
It has a world market share of 8.5% and earned 256 billion dollars in revenue in the year 2021. Toyota vehicles have a market in more than 170 countries, while the U.S, Japan, and China are its most prominent purchasers.
Just in case you are curious about where Toyota is manufactured? And how to check where a specific model was produced? This article is for you!
In this article, I am going to provide all the information encompassing these questions and Toyota’s future manufacturing plans.
Where is Toyota Manufactured?
Toyota has manufacturing facilities in 26 countries including Japan, the U.S, Brazil, China, France, the United Kingdom, Australia, and others. Toyota produces dozens of different models for more than 170 countries in the world and has a very large network of production facilities.
Below is a table that explains the origin countries of popular Toyota models and the countries where they are sold.
| MODEL | WHERE IT’S PRODUCED | FOR WHICH MARKET |
| Toyota Prius | Aichi, Japan | Local and Worldwide |
| Toyota 4Runner | Aichi, Japan | U.S, Canada, and South America |
| Toyota Camry | Aichi, Japan Kentucky, U.S Guangzhou, China Chachoengsao, Thailand Bidadi, India Saint Petersburg, Russia Phuc Yen, Vietnam | Local and Worldwide |
| Toyota C-HRs | Iwate, Japan Sakarya, Turkey Guangzhou, China Chachoengsao, Thailand | Local and Worldwide |
| Toyota Sienna | Indiana, U.S | U.S, Canada, Mexico, and Selected Asian Markets |
| Toyota Corolla | Japan, the U.S, China, Brazil, Thailand, South Africa, the U.K, Vietnam, India, Pakistan, Taiwan, Turkey, and Venezuela. | Local and Worldwide |
| Toyota Tacoma | Texas, U.S Baja California and Guanajuato, Maxico | U.S, Canada, Mexico, Costa Rica, Bolivia, and Bermuda |
| Toyota Highlander | Indiana, U.S | Local and Worldwide |
| Toyota RAV4 | Aichi, Japan Kentucky, U.S Changchun, China Saint Petersburg, Russia Ontario, Canada | Local and Worldwide |
| Toyota Tundra | Texas, U.S | U.S, Canada, Mexico, Panama, Honduras, Bolivia, and Chile |
Also read: Mazda vs Toyota: Which Brand is More Reliable?
What’s the Biggest Toyota Manufacturing Plant?
Toyota’s biggest vehicle manufacturing plant is located in Kentucky, United States of America. It has an annual capacity of producing 550,000 vehicles and 600,000 engines.
It was established in 1986 and at that time it was the first fully-owned manufacturing plant of Toyota. The total facility size is 9 million square feet (equal to 156 football fields) and has more than 9,000 full-time employees.
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The plant manufactures Toyota Camry, Avalon, RAV4, and Lexus ES. It also produces four cylinders and V6 engines. Since its inception in 1986, Toyota has invested more than 8.5 billion dollars in this facility. It is the first facility in the U.S to use Toyota’s latest New Global Architecture (TNGA) technology.
In Which Other Countries is Toyota Made?
Toyota has manufacturing facilities in 26 countries and also has many joint ventures in various countries. In Japan alone, there are sixteen manufacturing facilities owned by Toyota and there is a whole city in Japan named after Toyota.
In Asia, Toyota cars are being manufactured in Japan, Indonesia, the Philippines, and Thailand. While in China, India, Pakistan, Malaysia, Vietnam, and Taiwan Toyota has manufacturing plants as joint ventures with different local and international companies.
Toyota also produces cars in the American continent, mainly in the countries like the U.S, Mexico, Canada, Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, and Venezuela. It has manufacturing facilities in France, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Poland, Austria, Russia, Turkey, the United Kingdom, and South Africa.
Toyota had a plant in Victoria, Australia, but it stopped its production in 2017 because of high manufacturing costs and relatively low demand. Currently, Toyota is producing cars on five continents and has a huge market in almost every part of the world.
How to Check Where a Specific Toyota was Produced?
You can check the origin of your car by looking at the vehicle identification number (VIN) or by seeing the manufacturer’s plate. The first character of your VIN will tell you about the country where the vehicle was manufactured.
If the first character of the VIN begins with the number 1, 4, or 5 it means that the vehicle was made in the U.S and if it is J then it means the vehicle was built in Japan.
Below is a table with the list of characters and their corresponding countries.
| First Character of VIN | Name of The Country Your Toyota was Produced in |
| 1,4, or 5 | U.S |
| 2 | Canada |
| 3 | Mexico |
| 8 or 9 | South America |
| J | Japan |
| L | China |
| MA-ME | India |
| MF-MK | Indonesia |
| ML-MR | Thailand |
| VF-VR | France |
| NL-NR | Turkey |
| YA-YE | Belgium |
| X3-X0 | Russia |
Is Toyota from Different Manufacturing Plants Different Quality?
All the manufacturing plants of Toyota built cars using the same design, parts, and manufacturing processes. They will look identical to an untrained eye, but cars built in Japan are thought to have a slightly better quality than their counterparts.
The main reason behind this superior quality is the work ethic, discipline, and dedication of the Japanese workforce. Japanese workers are famous for their eye for detail, dedication, and unquestioned obedience. They take pride in their work and always strive for perfection.
Another reason is the quality of parts supplied to the manufacturing plants. American or Asian parts suppliers are not as good as Japanese suppliers and have a greater rate of failure.
But this gap is reducing continuously because of the huge automation trend in the automobile industry. Also, Toyota is making efforts to make near-perfect vehicles in all of its manufacturing plants regardless of their location.
Also read: Why Do Toyotas Hold Value so Well? (Buy These Models)
Where are Toyotas Designed?
Toyota has design and R&D centers all across the world, and also develops designs with its group companies. In total, it has 20 R&D centers in seven countries, and each one is responsible for specific activities.
Below is the table explaining all of Toyota’s R&D centers along with their location and activities.
| Region/Country | R&D Center Name | Location | Activities |
| Japan | Toyota Technical Center Headquarters | Aichi | Product Planning, Vehicle Engineering & Evaluation Basic Research |
| Toyota Technical Center Shimoyama | Aichi | Vehicle Performance Engineering | |
| Toyota Technical Center Higashi-Fuji | Shizuoka | Advanced Engineering | |
| Tokyo Design Research & Laboratory | Tokyo | Advanced Design | |
| Toyota Technical Center Shibetsu | Hokkaido | Vehicle Performance Engineering | |
| Otemachi Office | Tokyo | Artificial intelligence research & development | |
| Toyota Central Research & Development Laborities, Inc. | Aichi | Basic Research | |
| Toyota Research Institute – Advanced Development, Inc. | Tokyo | Automated Driving Software and Technology Development | |
| U.S | Toyota Technical Center Michigan | Michigan | Product Planning, Vehicle Engineering & Evaluation |
| Toyota Technical Center TAPG | Arizona | Vehicle Performance Engineering | |
| Toyota Technical Center Los Angeles | California | Environmental Performance Evaluation | |
| Toyota Research Institute, Inc. | California | Artificial Intelligence Research | |
| Calty Design Research, Inc. | California | Exterior, Interior, and Color Design | |
| Europe | Toyota Technical Center Europe | Belgium | Vehicle Engineering & Evaluation |
| Toyota Europe Design Development | France | Exterior, Interior, and Color Design | |
| Toyota Technical Center TMG | Germany | Development base for Motorsport Vehicle | |
| China | Toyota Technical Center China | Jiangsu | Environ. Tech., Vehicle Engineering & Evaluation, Basic Research |
| FAW Toyota Research & Development Co., Ltd. | Tianjin | Vehicle Engineering & Evaluation, Reg. & Homology | |
| GAC Toyota Motor Co., Ltd. | Guangdong | Vehicle Engineering & Evaluation, Reg. & Homology | |
| Asia Pacific | Toyota Daihatsu Engineering & Manufacturing Co., Ltd. | Thailand | Vehicle Engineering & Evaluation |
Is Toyota Planning to Open New Manufacturing Plants or Close Any Existing Ones?
Due to the ongoing pandemic, issues of the supply chain, and the global shortage of chips Toyota is planning to temporarily close some of its manufacturing facilities. But they will be soon back to production. Toyota is also planning to build its first U.S battery plant in North Carolina.
Toyota has an annual target to produce 9 million vehicles. But in 2022 due to the lockdown restrictions and other issues, it may temporarily halt production at some of its plants.
On December 20, 2021, Toyota announced that it would suspend production at 5 local plants in Japan and reduce North American production to 50,000 units for January. But Toyota is hopeful to get back to full-scale production very soon.
Toyota is also planning to build its first U.S battery manufacturing plant in North Carolina, which will start production in 2025. Toyota will invest 1.29 billion dollars in the plant and it will have a production capacity of 1.2 million batteries per year.
Also read: Where are Mazdas Made? (The Full List)
How Many People Does Toyota Hire?
For the year 2021, Toyota had 366,300 employees all across the world. This number is likely to remain the same during the year 2022 with a fluctuation of plus-minus five percent. Toyota Japan hired 1,600 employees in the year 2021 and plans to hire almost the same number for the year 2022.
How Many Cars Does Toyota Make a Year?
Toyota makes around 10 million cars per year and plans to manufacture 9 million cars for the year 2022. During the year 2020, 3.89 million Toyota cars were produced in Japan and the rest of the world produced 6.18 million Toyota cars.
This figure will be a little bit less for the year 2022 because of supply chain and chip shortage issues but Toyota is determined to achieve its target of 9 million vehicles.
Where are Toyota Headquarters?
Toyota’s headquarter is in Toyota city, Aichi, Japan. Because of Toyota’s fame and economic importance, the city of Koromo changed its name to Toyota in 1959. It has 426,162 residents and a total area of 918 square kilometers.
Also read: Where is Honda Made? (The Full List)
Who is Toyota Owned by?
Toyota Motor Cooperation is part of the Toyota group, which owns major shares of Toyota through cross-ownership. Toyota Industries, Subaru Cooperation, and Denso are also its shareholders through cross-ownership.
Toyota is listed on the New York Stock Exchange and other important exchanges of the world. In terms of revenue, Toyota is the ninth-largest company in the world, and Akio Toyoda, the grandson of its founder is the current president.
References:
en.wikipedia.org, epicvin.com, axleaddict.com, quora.com, pressroom.toyota.com, toyota-europe.com, cavatoyota.com, motorandwheels.com, cars.usnews.com, autoguide.com, motorask.com.
