Toyota Motor Corp. is considering building a new engine plant in the United States by 2004 in an effort to comply with local content ratio rules under the North American Free Trade Agreement, company executives said Thursday.
The engines will be used in the Tundra pickup truck produced at its Indiana plant, the executives said in confirming earlier news reports.
The new plant aims to raise the Tundra's local content ratio from the current 50 percent to at least 62.5 percent by 2004 in compliance with NAFTA rules, the executives said.
A location for the plant is likely to be chosen from among three southern U.S. states -- Tennessee, Alabama and Georgia. However, it is possible that an existing engine plant in West Virginia could be expanded instead, they said.