Toyota Tundra is one of the most popular trucks on the American market. Many people have asked me where the Toyota Tundra was manufactured, so I decided to write a short article and tell you more about the American Tundra and what it offers in 2023.
In short, the Toyota Tundra is manufactured in the US. It’s made by American specialists for American buyers and this explains why it is so popular. It’s now assembled in Texas (San Antonio) at the TMMTX plant but up until 2009, it was assembled in Indiana (Princeton) at the TMMI plant.
So, all Tundras sold all over the world are made in Texas. You may also want to know that the designer of the current generation of the Tundra is Kevin Hunter – the head of the design studio of Toyota Motor Corporation North America.
Toyota plant in Texas – what does it do?
The TMMTX is the name for the Toyota plant in Texas, San Antonio. This is where the Tundra and the Tacoma are made. Toyota proudly says that this plant builds trucks that can withstand all the challenges that Texas throws on the roads and off the roads.
Well, sounds cool, but the plant doesn’t build the trucks from scratch. This company assembles Toyotas from the parts it gets from other manufacturers both inside and outside the US.
For example, the popular V35A-FTS engine is made by Toyota Alabama and then shipped to Texas and installed in the Tundra. Many other parts are made in Japan, but this car is still mostly localized in the US. It means the majority of parts the Tundra is made of are manufactured in the United States.
It’s not hard to see why – the majority of Tundras ever made were sold in the US and I don’t see any reasons why and how this may change.
So, the Tundra is now assembled in Toyota San Antonio, Texas. But the parts and units for it are made all over the US and even all over the world.
What should you know about Toyota Texas plant?
This venue was founded in 2003 in San Antonio and now has about 2,600 employees. The plant has always been used for large trucks – Sequoia is still produced here, Tundra keeps the large part of the factory capabilities, and also the Tacoma was produced here between 2010 and 2021.
The overall area of 2 million square feet (190,000 square meters) is taken by the plant. The current production capacity of the Texas plant of Toyota is 200,000 vehicles a year. Also, Toyota invested over $1.2 billion to build and launch the plant.
How good is the Texas assembly of the Toyota Tundra?
I’ve continued investigating the questions about the manufacturing of the Tundra and couldn’t find a lot of reports that would tell me about common problems with the quality of assembly. I can say that the Tundra is a high-quality truck and owners are almost always happy with what they get when they buy this vehicle.
Here are some reports that are worth considering:
- the paint became slightly thinner than before, so you may expect some corrosion to appear earlier if some body part is a little damaged;
- plastic quality may be a little worse than expected, at least when you buy the TRD PRO version for more than $70K;
- while the truck may seem too simple, it proves to be practical and durable under any use conditions.
I’ve heard several negative feedbacks from Tundra owners but those were about the fleet Tundras that had over 200,000 miles on them. Any car will have some problems after it gets that far and is used as a truck – with minimum maintenance and maximum output.
I don’t see any problems with the assembly quality of the Toyota Tundra in Texas. Most owners agree that this is the most high-quality truck in their lives and they very often want a new Toyota truck after the old one reaches its death mileage or age.
Engines and transmission in the 2023 Toyota Tundra
Toyota San Antonio makes two versions of the Tundra:
- 5L V6 – the base engine that offers 389 horsepower and 479 lb-ft of torque;
- 5L V6 Hybrid – the same engine but paired with an electric engine and additional battery pack allowing it to offer 437 horsepower and 583 lb-ft combined.
Both engines come with the only available option of the transmissions – the 10-speed automatic gearbox called “ECTi Direct Shift” made by Aisin in Japan. This is another major part that isn’t made in Texas but is just bolted in San Antonio after the plant gets the transmission from the manufacturer.
You can get a rear-wheel drive option or pay more for the four-wheel drive which is extremely recommended if you want to use your Tundra at its maximum capabilities.
Where will the future generation of Tundra be made?
The current generation started selling in 2022, so it’s very fresh and I don’t see why it may be changed soon with any other generation or even a facelift. The Tundra is not a luxury sedan car that needs some facelifts and restyling every other year. It’s a truck that’s made to work and the style is not its most important feature.
But I believe the next generation of the Tundra will still be made in Texas. This is the optimal solution because the logistic patterns are already developed and the plant is able to satisfy quite a huge demand for the Tundras in the USA and even outside the country. So, I don’t see any reason why Toyota will want to move the assembly of the truck to any other place.
How many Tundras are sold each year in the US?
Toyota Tundra is one of the models that doesn’t care about crisis years, bad periods on the market, economic stagnation, etc. This car is always in demand. On average, within the recent decade, Toyota has been selling slightly over 100,000 Tundras a year in the US only. Also, this car was sold in Canada (but with much less success, of course).
It means that about 274 American every day get their new Tundra in one of Toyota dealerships all around the country. That’s huge given that the truck class is full of wonderful offers.
It’s still not the most popular truck in the US, so Ford sells more cars than Toyota and there are other competitors. But still, it means that Toyota San Antonio assembles at least 300 Tundras a day and it’s hard to imagine how they do this.
Final thoughts
Although the Tundra is a very popular and demanded truck, it’s assembled in only one venue around the world – in San Antonio, Texas. But this plant doesn’t manufacture every single bolt for this truck. Actually, it barely manufactures anything – it just assembles about 300 Tundras a day to satisfy the demand on the market in North America.
I hope I answered your questions in this article and now you know where the Tundra is made! Still have any questions? Ask them in the comments below.