Arkansas loses bid for Toyota's next U.S. plant to San Antonio

LITTLE ROCK -- Arkansas officials lost their battle for a Toyota Motor Corp. truck plant Wednesday, but emerged with assurance that major companies know that all roads lead to a 5,000-acre cotton, rice and bean field in the Delta.

The Japanese automaker said Wednesday it would build a $800 million plant near San Antonio -- a site blessed with ready access to millions of truck drivers and a Latin American landscape that Toyota would love to tap.

According to Arkansas economic development officials speaking on condition of anonymity, the state was told last week that a site near Marion offered a world-class transportation network -- five major railroads and two cross-country interstates meet just miles from the Mississippi River.

It just wasn't close enough to Mexico to overcome San Antonio's geographic advantage.

News of Toyota's decision -- made in Tokyo Wednesday -- arrived in Arkansas on Tuesday night.

"Obviously, I'm disappointed, but I'm pleased with efforts that the state and the community of Marion made to show off our area to Toyota," said Kay Brockwell, Marion's economic development director.

"I think, when all is said and done, we're a whole lot better off than this time last year," Brockwell said. "There are a lot of people who know about us who didn't before."

Brockwell had said previously that a survey done as Daimler-Benz looked for a van plant found that Marion had the lowest logistics costs of a dozen sites studied. The company went to Savannah, Ga.

"We will turn around and go after the next auto plant that is trying to locate in North America," Brockwell said.

The Toyota plant is expected to one day employ 2,000. It will be the company's sixth vehicle production plant in North America.

The company said in September that it hoped to add a production plant in North America near Mexico, where it is already building another plant set to begin production in about 2005.

The 2,000-acre San Antonio plant will help Toyota keep pace with demand for light trucks in North America, Toyota said. It will build about 150,000 Tundra pickup trucks a year from 2006.

Toyota has been considering another plant in North America to expand its highly profitable business in the region. Toyota has car assembly plants in Kentucky, Indiana, California and Canada.

The company has said it would like to grab 15 percent world market share by 2010.

The automaker had said it will build another auto plant after annual North American sales hit 2 million cars. The car maker sold 1.9 million new cars in North America last year.

Toyota has been reporting booming profits, largely on growing sales in North America that have eroded domestic rivals' market share.

Brockwell said the small Crittenden County community was confident it would one day land a major manufacturer on the site, which in spring, summer and fall is planted in cotton, rice or soybeans.