San Antonio, Feb., 7 / Japanese automaker Toyota Motor Corp. said Feb. 5 that it had chosen San Antonio as the site for a new assembly plant for its full-size Tundra pick-up truck.

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The automaker plans to build 150,000 units a year at the Texas plant by the end of 2006, more than doubling North American production of the Tundra to about 250,000 units. The automaker already produces in excess of 100,000 Tundras at its Indiana plant.

The Japanese automaker already has four vehicle assembly plants in North America producing a range of vehicles from its best-selling Camry sedan to the Tacoma pick-up and its crossover sport-utility, the Matrix.

The new plant represents an $800 million investment and is expected to bring approximately 2,000 new jobs to Texas.

By 2006, Toyota will employ some 35,000 people throughout North America, and with Wednesday's announcement, its direct investment tops $14 billion, the company said.

Toyota sold 1.75 million new vehicles in the United States in 2002, giving it a market share of 10.4%.

From its corporate headquarters in Tokyo, the company also announced Feb. 5 that net profit almost doubled in the third quarter from the same quarter a year ago to 216.1 billion yen (US$1.8 billion) from 111.5 billion yen a year earlier.