Toyota moving portion of U.S. headquarters to suburban Dallas

Toyota moving portion of U.S. headquarters to suburban Dallas

Toyota Motor Corp. is moving substantial parts of its U.S. headquarters in Torrance, Calif., to suburban Dallas as the world's largest automaker seeks savings from its U.S. sales unit, people familiar with the matter said.

Employees will be informed of the plan Monday, said the people, who asked not to be identified disclosing private conversations. Steve Curtis, a Toyota spokesman, didn't return a call on the matter.
The surprise move is a blow to the Golden State, the biggest U.S. auto market and proponent of the strictest clean-air rules. Toyota's Prius hybrid has been California's top-selling model for the past two years and helped secure a leading 22 percent market share.

It also represents a victory for Texas Gov. Rick Perry, who has made repeated visits to California to lure businesses to his state with promises of lower taxes and easier regulations.

Toyota fell 0.9 percent to 5,447 yen at 9:25 a.m. in Tokyo trading, matching the decline in the Topix index. The Toyota City, Japan-based company's shares have dropped 15 percent this year.

Toyota has more than 5,300 California employees, most at its Torrance campus in sales, finance, marketing, engineering and product planning. Details on which functions will move and when might be announced as soon as Monday. When Nissan Motor Co. moved its North American headquarters to lower-cost Tennessee in 2006, only 42 percent of employees initially chose to relocate.
The new regional sales headquarters might be in or near Plano, said three of the people who asked not to be named as the plan isn't public. The majority of Toyota's Torrance operations might move to Texas over a two-year period, the people said.

Texas is home to Toyota's pickup truck plant in San Antonio and a General Motors Co. factory in Arlington

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