Hello and welcome, good people engaged with our blog here at eTags! We love that you’re here, and we love spending time with you. As you know – if you’re a regular visitor to our musings and sharing of information – we spend a good amount of time being curious and then passing on our findings to you. Not only do we love to lend our expertise in all things title and tag related, but we’re also super into things like automotive trends, news, laws, rules and regulations. It’s all part and parcel of the eTags package.
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And getting right into today’s topic. We’ll remind you of an article we posted the other day about the proposed tariffs set to go into effect after our new president takes office. As a quick reminder, the new taxes would levy a hefty twenty-five percent tax on goods imported from our neighbors to the north and south. Namely, Mexico and Canada. In addition, there would be an extra ten percent tax on imports from China.
This would mean a substantial hike in costs for the manufacturers, who would either have to swallow the fees and continue production in these countries, or endure the expense of moving their machinery and assembly to the U.S. Either way, the extra expenditure would likely be passed onto the consumer in the end, making it a challenging situation for everyone. 
Grim, some would say. But it got us curious about auto manufacturing in the United States in general. We were wondering what the state of plants and factories is in this country, and on the heels of this rather unpromising news of the tariffs, we stumbled across a beacon of hope. And that is, firstly, that the automotive production world is actually pretty strong in the U.S.
There are currently over fifty operational automotive factories in the country.
And these plants produce over 120 models for sale right here on our turf. That’s twenty different automakers across fifteen states. The manufacturers include heavy-hitting names such as GM, Ford, Stellantis, Tesla, Rivian, Honda, Mazda, Nissan Subaru, Volkswagen, BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Hyundai, and Kia. Not too shabby, eh?
But what really caught our attention recently is Toyota’s newest addition to the automotive manufacturing industry in the U.S. The automobile giant already has staked its claim on Kentucky soil by having their largest plant in the world call Georgetown, KY home. The monster compound, spanning 9 million square feet, has the capability of producing over 550,00 vehicles and 600,000 engines each year. That’s over one million pieces of complex machinery per year!
Unsurprisingly, the plant has manufactured over 14 million (what?!) vehicles since its inception back in May of 1986. Last year (2023) the site produced 433,848 vehicles and 685,984 engines. Holy moly, right? Which means, of course, that this plant is home a whole host of jobs. Indeed, Toyota has a roster of 9,950 humans in their full-time employment on their Kentucky property. 
Not too shabby, Toyota. But in the vein of all impressive things: wait, there’s more! Toyota just announced their plans to open a new branch on their Kentucky grounds as an exclusive paint factory. And when we say “plans,” we mean a $922 million investment in the building of this new facility.
The plan, as it were, is to add an additional production capacity of one million square feet. Dedicated solely to the advancement of its painting processes, the new build will be home to the improvement of its vehicle finishes. Meaning, this is where Toyota will be developing and enhancing their paint quality and procedure.
The new Toyota plant, scheduled to open its doors in early 2027, is set to go about using a brand new, environmentally friendly paint process.
This eco-conscious procedure means that the method will see a 30% drop in carbon emissions. That is nothing to scoff at, 30%. It also will decrease the usual water usage by 1.5 million gallons per year. These are some serious numbers.
Not only that, but using this advanced, sophisticated, and ecologically friendly method, Toyota aims to shorten production lead time, improve accuracy in processes, and of course, have the ability to offer consumers a more diverse color palette. The vehicle giant wants customers to be able to choose from a wider variety of paint options and finishes, as well as have their cars, trucks, and SUV’s stand out from other makes and models on the road. 
Furthermore, the new plant is also intended as a support annex to help Toyota with the production of electric vehicles already underway on the Kentucky property. Acting as kind of the wonder child of the Toyota family, it seems.
To us, this new Toyota expansion sounds like an impressive step towards strengthening the automotive manufacturing presence in the United States.
Of course, at eTags we love and respect our neighbors to the north and south (for more than just tacos and poutine, by the way) but if the big automobile names are forced to pull out of Mexico and Canada, we feel slightly better about the availability of new vehicles at decent prices being created on our soil. With the investment in U.S. employment, the advancement of eco-friendly procedures, and the improvement of lead times, we gotta say: we like it.
And regardless of which car you choose, where it was manufactured, or what the cost was, we’re very. Much equal opportunity here when it comes to titles and tags. So should you need assistance with renewing your registration, registering your vehicle for the first time, replacing a stolen or damaged license plate, we got you. If you need to transfer a title, replace a lost or defaced title, we got you. For all your title and tag needs, you’ve come to the right place!
Head on over to etags.com, choose your state from the drop-down menu, select the service you require, and let us guide you through the quick and easy process of getting it done online instead of in line. Because as always, here at eTags, we’re here to help!
