Toyota Breaks Ground in Texas

Maybe you haven’t heard the news: Toyota is closing up shop in Southern California and moving to the Lone Star State.

More specifically the Japanese automaker is building its new North American headquarters in Plano, Texas, which is located near Dallas. Yesterday the company broke ground on this facility. Auspiciously a 2015 Tundra TRD Pro Series pickup started turning soil with a large bulldozer attached to its prow.

Aside from this bright-red pickup bringing a little arctic chill to the Texas air, company officials also unveiled a gigantic Toyota sign. Each letter stands 10-feet tall and overall the brandmark is some 64 feet long. Apparently everything is bigger in Texas.

Contained within each letter is a yaupon holly, a plant native to the state. Students from a nearby high school participated in this portion of the ground breaking ceremony, attaching hand-written notes to these “wish trees,” a Japanese cultural tradition.

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Not surprisingly the company is building an environmentally sustainable campus, though it’s still a long way off. The facility is expected to open its doors late next year or early in 2017.

GALLERY: Toyota TRD Pro Series Live Photos

GALLERY: Toyota TRD Pro Series

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