Toyota to Hike Tacoma Truck Capacity in Mexico

Toyota Motors Corp. says it will spend $150 million to boost annual output about 60% at its Tacoma midsize pickup truck factory in Tijuana, Mexico.

The expansion will enable the plant to assemble 160,000 pickups per year from about 100,000 units currently, according to the company. The increase aims to help Tacoma defend market share as new models from Ford, General Motors and Honda vie for sales.

Demand for the Tacoma is up 4% this year. But Automotive News says the truck’s share of the U.S. midsize pickup market has dropped to 43% from 51% in 2015 because of a sharp upswing in competitive products.

The Tijuana plant has been running at three-shift full capacity for more than a year. Toyota also builds the Tacoma at its much larger factory in San Antonio, Tex., which also produces the fullsize Tundra pickup. AN says the Mexican and Texas facilities produced 82,000 and 111,000 Tacomas last year.