NUMMI CHOSEN FOR TOYOTA TRUCK PRODUCTION

Toyota City―TOYOTA MOTOR CORPORATION announced today that it has reached an agreement with General Motors Corporation and New United Motor Manufacturing, Inc., the Toyota-GM joint venture in Fremont, California, regarding the production of Toyota pickup trucks there. A Letter of Understanding exchanged by the three companies on April 24 calls for the production of 100,000 Toyota Trucks (Hilux pickup in Japan) at NUMMI, beginning in the spring of 1991. The project, which is still subject to government approval, including requisite environmental permits, should add about 700 new jobs at the plant and will require an additional investment of about $200 million (¥27 billion).

Toyota's decision to build pickup trucks in the U.S. is in line with the company's philosophy of localizing overseas operations wherever possible. The new project will actively contribute to the local economy and local employment opportunities. In addition to the expected 700 new jobs that will be created at NUMMI, thousands of other jobs will be created at suppliers and affiliated industries. Toyota currently sells more than 200,000 light-duty trucks annually in the U.S.

NUMMI already produces the Geo Prizm for the Chevrolet Division of General Motors and the Corolla sedan for Toyota.

This year's production schedule calls for 200,000 units to be built. Truck production would add another 100,000 units to this total annually and bring NUMMI's total employment to more than 3,400. At that time, total investment in the company's Fremont facility will have reached nearly $1 billion.