Video of the press conference on Toyota and Mazda's new U.S. joint venture plant

Good afternoon and thank you for joining us today.

I'm very honored and excited to be here to announce our new investment in Alabama together with Mr. Kogai of Mazda.

I would like to thank Governor Ivey for having us here in Alabama, as well as other state and community leaders for joining us in celebration of what will surely be a very exciting project for all of us.

Being here today feels like a homecoming for Toyota and for me personally.

You probably know that Alabama is already home to hundreds of our team members, who build 700,000 engines per year for our North American vehicles in our plant in Huntsville.

Something you may not know is that Alabama is also the very first state where I stayed when I was a young boy.

I was a Boy Scout at the time, and this was my first extended stay away from home, so I was a little nervous.

But thanks to the famous southern hospitality, my first experience in America was a success and remains quite special to me. I'm very proud to be back in Alabama today.

When Toyota and Mazda announced our intention to build a new plant in the US last summer, I said that two things brought the companies together: the love of cars, and the love of home towns.

While cars get our hearts pumping, hometowns make the success of our endeavors.

We are proud of where we come from, of course, but as we expanded our business globally, every place where we operate has become our hometown.

Whenever I visit one of those hometowns, there is one thing I always say to the leaders I meet: "I appreciate your people."

Even though our local operations have fostered talents and created value, our team members joined Toyota after having been educated and trained in their respective communities. They come to work every day because they lead fulfilling lives in the towns around the plant.

That's why I believe a hometown is critical for our sustainable growth.

So, today, I would like to express my gratitude to the people of Huntsville and other communities around the new site for welcoming us. Our success will only be achieved if we work together with your hometowns and their people.

Together, we will care for this new plant, fostering it and planting the seeds for future generations. Together, I am confident we will create yet another built-in-America success story.

Thank you very much.

Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen. Thank you very much for coming today.

I would like to thank Governor Ivey for having us here. Also, I appreciate all of the other state, government, and community leaders that have joined us today.

I wanted to come here myself today, to tell the people of Alabama about our new plant as soon as possible and to ask for your warm welcome.

It is a great honor to announce that Toyota and Mazda will be building a new vehicle plant here. I'd like to express our sincere appreciation to the people of Alabama and Huntsville for their support. We also want to thank Toyota and all the other parties involved in this process. Without their help, this project could not have gotten off to such a great start.

Mazda is a company with a long history. We were established in 1920 and in two years we will celebrate 100 years since our founding. And we started selling cars in America in 1970, which means that 2020 will also mark 50 years of Mazda in America.

2021, when our plant is due to start operations, will mark the start of another 100 years for Mazda and our next half century in America.

How wonderful to bring this plant on line in such a landmark year, to start manufacturing and enhance sales in this great country, and to work toward Mazda's future growth while contributing to the economies of the local community and America at the same time.

To achieve this, Toyota and Mazda will use the full extent of our combined technological capabilities to make this a cutting-edge plant that boasts world-class efficiency and quality levels. And we will supply vehicles of the highest quality to people all over America.

Mazda makes cars with a clear vision of how we want to inspire people, contribute to society and help preserve the beauty of the earth. By making such cars here in Alabama, we hope that over time our plant will come to occupy a special place in the hearts of our employees and the local community. By making this plant a vibrant part of that community, we hope to work, learn and grow together with the people of Alabama and Huntsville.

In closing, let me say thank you once again for the opportunity to build an auto plant here. Alabama and Huntsville have given us a warm welcome. Toyota and Mazda will work hard together, inspire each other, and become good corporate citizens of this state.

Thank you very much.