UPDATE: Toyota to Move U.S. Operations to Texas

Over the next three years Toyota Motor Corp. will consolidate its manufacturing, corporate operations and sales and marketing units to a new U.S. headquarters in Plano, Tex.

Toyota describes the move as the most significant change in its North American operations in 50 years. Regional CEO Jim Lentz says centralizing the three operating units on one campus will streamline decision making and help Toyota serve its customers better.

The moves will eventually affect 4,000 employees currently headquartered in Torrance, Calif.; Erlanger, Ky.; and New York City. The company's Toyota Financial Services unit and its 1,000 employees will remain in Torrance.

A few staffers will move to temporary quarters in Plano this summer. Toyota says the bulk of the relocations will occur after the company completes construction of its new headquarters in late 2016 or early 2017. Groundbreaking for the facility will occur this autumn.

Toyota also will expand its technical center near Ann Arbor, Mich., to accommodate about 250 people currently in Erlanger. Another 300 production engineering employees in Erlanger will be reassigned to a new facility in Georgetown, Ky.

The consolidation won't affect Toyota's 10 manufacturing plants in the U.S. or any operating units in Canada, Mexico or Puerto Rico. Nor will it impact Toyota and Lexus field offices or the company's Calty Design facility, InfoTechnology Center, racing operations, distribution centers or logistics field offices.