Following the Tōhoku earthquake, the President of Toyota, Akio Toyoda, announced a reorganisation of the operations for the area, naming it the third production centre after Chubu and Kyushu. On 1 July 2012 Toyota Motors Tohoku, Kanto Auto Works and Central Motors were merged to form Toyota Motor East Japan. The new company focussed on developing and manufacturing compact cars, engines and other components. In August 2012, Toyota Motor East Japan's Higashi-Fuji plant started the production of the second-generation Porte and the Spade, replacing Daihatsu which had assembled the first-generation Porte at its Kyoto plant. In November 2015, Toyota started the process of moving the production of the Vitz from Toyota Industries to Toyota Motor East Japan's Iwate plant with the aim of consolidating compact/subcompact car assembly in the Northeast and reducing costs. The move was completed in October 2018. Toyota also announced it plans to eventually transfer all the Corolla production from Toyota Motor East Japan to its Takaoka plant. Toyota Motor East Japan began manufacturing the second generationSienta during 2015, replacing Daihatsu as the assembler of that model for Japan. In December 2016, the company started production of the C-HR at its Iwate plant. In November 2017, it started the production of a new version of the JPN Taxi. The previous JPN Taxi models, manufactured at the Higashi-Fuji plant from 1995 onwards, were two versions of the Toyota Comfort. The new JPN Taxi is based on the Sienta and is being assembled at the same location as its predecessor. A full deployment of the new model is expected before the 2020 Olympics. Production of the second-generation Century, a model also assembled at Higashi-Fuji, stopped in January 2017. In 2018, Higashi-Fuji started to manufacture the third-generation Century. In June 2018, Toyota Motor East Japan announced plans to relocate production and employees through its plants within the year. Later, the company also said it would close the Higashi-Fuji plant by 2020 and relocate production of the JPN Taxi and Porte to its Iwate and Miyagi plants. Other models would be transferred to different subsidiaries of the Toyota group. The Higashi-Fuji Technical Centre would continue in operation. In February 2020, the company started deliveries of the Yaris assembled at its Iwate plant, replacing the Vitz nameplate.
Facilities
The company has plants for assembly at Miyagi, Iwate and Higashi-Fuji. There are two overseas bases, one in Brazil and other in Thailand. The head offices are in Miyagi.
Products
, Toyota cars produced by Toyota Motor East Japan include: the Century, the Porte, the JPN Taxi, the Spade ; the Sienta, the Corolla ; the Aqua, the C-HR, the Yaris. The company also produces engines and other auto parts, wheelchairs and car lifters.
