Compact Toyota Tacoma and fullsize Tundra trucks are assembled at a factory in San Antonio. Currently the plant has a capacity of producing 250,000 units. This is possible with two operating shifts during the week in addition to overtime and Saturdays. The automaker is considering increasing the capacity of the factory to meet the demand for new Tacoma vehicles.
”Dealers are telling us they could sell more Tacomas and Tundras. We are evaluating our footprint and capacity,”1 says Bill Fay, Toyota division general manager. When making the decision whether or not to expand there are many things the automaker must keep in mind such as:
- In 2007 when the Tundra first came out it sold almost 200,000 units for the year.
- In 2008 that number dropped by 30% and in 2009 the recession caused sales to only total around 79,0000.
- 248,468 Tundras and Tacomas combined have been sold during the first 11 months of 2013.
- According to Fays predictions the automaker could sell 137,000 Tundras next year. If this happens and Tacoma sales increase or stay the same the demand for these new vehicles will not be able to be met with the current resources available between the plants in Mexico and Texas.
While it looks like the demand for production will increase Toyota is still hesitant to risk spending a lot of money to increase production because you never know when the market may drop by over a million like it did in the 2008 – 2009 years. What we do know is there are many new Toyota and used cars, vans, trucks and SUVs available for test drive at our dealership. Make the quick trip from Salt Lake City to find the new or used car of your dreams at our dealership in Riverdale, UT.
Source: 1http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/2013/12/toyota-considers-increasing-capacity-at-san-antonio-truck-plant-as-tundra-sales-climb/
