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The marketing trick here is 'assembled'.

Nothing major is manufactured here.



At my previous job, I made the robots that Toyota, Suzuki, etc use in their manufacturing lines and directly installed them inside their factories. My experience is, for the most part, first hand.

The vehicles Japanese companies make for the American and US markets have no overlap. Nothing sold in America is made in Japan, and nothing sold in Japan is made in America. A lot of those vehicles are loaded up into tractor trailers and hauled off to their destination—Japanese tractor trailers that those manufacturers use aren’t large enough to haul American vehicles in Japan. Furthermore, the economics for manufacturing huge vehicles in a tiny country that can barely build for its own needs and shipping across the world wouldn’t make sense. The raw materials, energy, and real estate needed for the factories are simply far cheaper in the US.


4Runners have always been made in Japan, I haven't looked but I'd be very surprised if they were the only model Toyota doesn't manufacture in the US:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toyota_4Runner


Not sure if this is the same thing, but the "local procurement rate" of Kentucky Manufacturing Plant rose to 75% in 1991: https://www.toyota-global.com/company/history_of_toyota/75ye...




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