The Daily Dig
Toyota has applied to expand its San Antonio manufacturing campus with a new $2 billion facility. The application, submitted Friday to the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts, covers plans dubbed Project Orca that would add a complete vehicle assembly line to the existing Texas operation.
If the project moves forward, construction must begin by the end of 2026 to meet production milestones, with the facility opening in 2028 and production starting in 2030. The site would launch with 320 employees. Initial construction costs are listed at $682.5 million, and the completed facility would support 2,000 jobs averaging more than $88,000 per year.
Toyota applied for approximately $37 million in state and local economic grants and loans through Texas's Jobs, Energy, Technology and Innovation Act. Project Orca is part of a competitive, ongoing site-selection process weighing utility infrastructure and expenses, permit fees, transportation infrastructure, skilled labor access, workforce development commitments, and the local tax environment. Any selected site must be co-located with or in close proximity to an existing Toyota manufacturing plant with access to sufficient transportation infrastructure.
This project is separate from Project Iceberg, Toyota's $531 million expansion at the same San Antonio campus. That 500,000 square foot addition, dedicated to rear-axle assembly and drivetrain components, started construction two years ago and has no connection to Project Orca.
Snapshot:
Project Name: Project Orca
Owner: Toyota Motor Corp.
Location: San Antonio, Texas (at or near existing manufacturing campus)
Sector: Automotive Manufacturing
Scope: New complete vehicle assembly line facility
Total Project Value: $2 billion
Initial Construction Cost: $682.5 million
Incentives Requested: Approx. $37 million (Texas JETI Act)
Construction Deadline: Must begin by end of 2026
Facility Opening: 2028
Production Start: 2030
Launch Workforce: 320 employees
Jobs Created: 2,000
Average Salary: More than $88,000/year
Status: Application submitted; site selection ongoing and competitive
Related Project on Campus: Project Iceberg ($531M, rear-axle and drivetrain, started construction two years ago)
TheJobWalk Thoughts
Toyota's application notes it is watching the federal government's review of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, set to begin July 1, while simultaneously supporting suppliers affected by tariffs across 600 U.S. facilities. A new domestic assembly plant is partly a response to that environment. Subcontractors and suppliers who understand that context will have a sharper conversation with Toyota's procurement teams than those approaching this purely as a large construction opportunity.
Toyota's stated philosophy is to build where they sell and buy where they build. That is a procurement signal worth paying attention to. Whoever wins the site selection inherits a built-in expectation of local sourcing. Local and regional suppliers near any selected site should treat a Toyota announcement as the starting gun, not the finish line. The firms that have already mapped their capabilities against Toyota's supply chain needs will move faster and more credibly when work starts opening up.
Toyota is also running parallel investment programs across multiple U.S. states right now, including Project Iceberg in San Antonio, a $1 billion investment across its Kentucky and Indiana facilities, and a newly opened EV battery plant in Liberty, North Carolina. For subcontractors and suppliers in the automotive manufacturing space, Project Orca is one part of a much longer pipeline.
