It’s No Illusion. Mississippi-Built Corolla Makes its Local Debut

• More than 9,000 team members and their families, suppliers and guests witness the line off of the Mississippi-built Corolla


TUPELO, Miss. – What’s 47 years old, stunning, and turning heads in Tupelo today?

In front of an estimated crowd of nearly 9,000 people at the BancorpSouth Arena this afternoon the all-new, next generation 2014 Corolla officially made its Mississippi debut at its line off ceremony, featuring an illusionist, aerialists, fire artists and other performers. Attendees included Toyota Mississippi team members and their families, suppliers and invited guests including Miss. Lt. Governor Tate Reeves and Congressman Alan Nunnelee.

The line off celebration was combined with the plant’s Team Mississippi Appreciation Day.

“The Corolla is not built with one part. It is not built by one person. And it is not built by one company. It takes all of us, Toyota Mississippi and our strong supplier support, working together as one team, to produce high quality Corollas,” said Masafumi Hamaguchi, president of Toyota Mississippi.

The all-new 2014 Corolla is assembled by 2,000 team members at Toyota Motor Manufacturing, Mississippi, Inc., located near Tupelo. Five “near-site” suppliers employ an additional 1,300 people.

The Corolla, now in its 11th generation, is the world’s most popular compact sedan and last month sold its 40 millionth unit worldwide.

Immediately following the all-new Corolla’s debut, guests were treated to Team Mississippi Appreciation Day outside of the arena. Rides, games, food, live music, karaoke, a magic show and other fun-filled activities took place.

The all-new 2014 Corolla arrived in dealer showrooms last week.

About Toyota
Toyota, (NYSE:TM), the world’s top automaker and creator of the Prius, is committed to building vehicles for the way people live through our Toyota, Lexus and Scion brands. Over the past 50 years, we’ve built more than 25 million cars and trucks in North America, where we operate 14 manufacturing plants (10 in the U.S.) and directly employ nearly 40,000 people (more than 37,000 in the U.S.). Our 1,800 North American dealerships sold more than 2.3 million cars and trucks in 2012 – and about 80 percent of all Toyota vehicles sold over the past 20 years are still on the road today.

Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing North America, Inc. (TEMA), headquartered in Erlanger, Ky., is responsible for Toyota’s engineering design, development, R&D and manufacturing activities in North America. TEMA’s Toyota Technical Center (TTC) operates engineering, research and development facilities in Ann Arbor, Mich., including Toyota’s Collaborative Safety Research Center (CSRC.) Toyota partners with philanthropic organizations across the country, with a focus on education, safety and the environment. As part of this commitment, we share the company’s extensive know-how garnered from building great cars and trucks to help community organizations and other nonprofits expand their ability to do good.

NOTE TO EDITORS: Photos to accompany this story are available and can be retrieved in digital form by media without charge at www.toyotanewsroom.com.