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Toyota resumes construction in Mississippi
BLUE SPRINGS, Miss., (UPI) -- Japanese automaker Toyota Motor Corp. said it was confident enough in the economy to resume construction of a factory in Mississippi.
"We're confident that we're seeing things improving," Toyota Motor Sales USA President James Lentz said in a conference call, The New York Times reported Friday.
"We're starting to see some bright spots in the economy," he said, although he also warned, "It's not going to come roaring back."
Toyota said it would build Corolla cars in Blue Springs, Miss., not the Prius model it originally intended to build at the plant, where construction was halted when the industry adjusted to a prolonged downturn during the recession.
Bob King, the newly elected president of the United Auto Worker's union, said the decision to close down the New United Motor Manufacturing Inc. facility in California and move production to a non-union shop in Mississippi was "outrageous."
"It's a terrible business decision and clearly to us an anti-union decision. They're running away from decently paid workers to much lower wages in Mississippi," King said Thursday, the day after he ascended to the union's top job.
BLUE SPRINGS, Miss., (UPI) -- Japanese automaker Toyota Motor Corp. said it was confident enough in the economy to resume construction of a factory in Mississippi.
"We're confident that we're seeing things improving," Toyota Motor Sales USA President James Lentz said in a conference call, The New York Times reported Friday.
"We're starting to see some bright spots in the economy," he said, although he also warned, "It's not going to come roaring back."
Toyota said it would build Corolla cars in Blue Springs, Miss., not the Prius model it originally intended to build at the plant, where construction was halted when the industry adjusted to a prolonged downturn during the recession.
Bob King, the newly elected president of the United Auto Worker's union, said the decision to close down the New United Motor Manufacturing Inc. facility in California and move production to a non-union shop in Mississippi was "outrageous."
"It's a terrible business decision and clearly to us an anti-union decision. They're running away from decently paid workers to much lower wages in Mississippi," King said Thursday, the day after he ascended to the union's top job.
