Toyota Auto Body California

The plant was established to circumvent the chicken tax, a 25 percent tariff on light trucks imposed in 1964 by the United States under President Lyndon B. Johnson in response to tariffs placed by France and West Germany on importation of U.S. chicken.{{refn|name="wsjtransit"|{{Cite news |last=Dolan |first=Matthew |date=September 23, 2009 |title=To Outfox the Chicken Tax, Ford Strips Its Own Vans |language=en-US |work=Wall Street Journal |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB125357990638429655 |url-status=live |url-access=subscription |access-date=April 20, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220310044857/https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB125357990638429655 |archive-date=March 10, 2022}}}} While the government said the tariff was meant to curtail importation of German-built Volkswagen Type 2s, other models were also impacted, including the Toyota Hilux (also known as the Toyota Pickup). Toyota found a tariff engineering loophole: they could import "chassis cab" configurations (which included the entire truck, less the truck bed) with only a 4% tariff.{{refn|name="ending chicken"|{{Cite web |last=Ikenson |first=Daniel J. |date=June 18, 2003 |title=Ending the 'Chicken War': The Case for Abolishing the 25 Percent Truck Tariff |url=https://www.cato.org/trade-briefing-paper/ending-chicken-war-case-abolishing-25-percent-truck-tariff |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210419000344/https://www.cato.org/trade-briefing-paper/ending-chicken-war-case-abolishing-25-percent-truck-tariff |archive-date=April 19, 2021 |access-date=April 20, 2022 |website=Cato Institute |language=en-US}}}} When the trucks arrived in the United States, a truck bed would be locally built and attached to the chassis before being sent to dealers.

To do this work, Toyota struck a deal in 1971 with Atlas Fabricators, which would begin producing the truck beds and installing them starting in November. The partnership was successful and, in February 1974, Toyota purchased the company and renamed it Long Beach Fabricators.{{refn|name="Toyota 75 Years History"|{{Cite web |title=Item 4. Expansion of Sales Networks in the United States |url=https://www.toyota-global.com/company/history_of_toyota/75years/text/entering_the_automotive_business/chapter2/section5/item4.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220407222152/https://www.toyota-global.com/company/history_of_toyota/75years/text/entering_the_automotive_business/chapter2/section5/item4.html |archive-date=April 7, 2022 |access-date=June 28, 2021 |website=Toyota Motor Corporation |language=en-US}}}} The plant was Toyota's first manufacturing investment in the United States.{{refn|{{Cite press release |title=Toyota's TABC Plant Celebrates 40 Years of Manufacturing in California |date=August 21, 2012 |url=https://pressroom.toyota.com/toyota-tabc-plant-celebrates-40-years-manufacturing-california/ |language=en-US |access-date=June 2, 2021 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210604002935/https://pressroom.toyota.com/toyota-tabc-plant-celebrates-40-years-manufacturing-california/ |archive-date=June 4, 2021 |website=Toyota Motor North America}}}}{{refn|{{Cite news |last=Robes Meeks |first=Karen |date=August 21, 2012 |title=Toyota celebrates 40th anniversary of Long Beach auto body factory |language=en-US |work=Daily Breeze |url=https://www.dailybreeze.com/general-news/20120821/toyota-celebrates-40th-anniversary-of-long-beach-auto-body-factory |url-status=live |access-date=June 1, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210603031703/https://www.dailybreeze.com/2012/08/21/toyota-celebrates-40th-anniversary-of-long-beach-auto-body-factory/ |archive-date=June 3, 2021}}}}

The company would change its name to Toyota Motor Manufacturing (USA) Inc. (TMM) in March 1980. The TMM name would later be used for Toyota's Kentucky assembly plant that would begin production in May 1988. On June 6, 1988, the California plant was renamed TABC, Inc. (Toyota Auto Body California), a nod to the company's Toyota Auto Body manufacturing subsidiary.{{r|Toyota 75 Years History}}

Toyota would later say that TABC had a large role in building Toyota's pickup trucks into a major model in the U.S. on the same level as the Corolla and the Camry.{{r|Toyota 75 Years History}} In 1984, Toyota established a joint-venture vehicle manufacturing plant with General Motors called NUMMI (New United Motor Manufacturing, Inc.), which would begin assembling complete Hilux trucks in the United States starting in 1990 for the 1991 model year. However, TABC would continue to complete final assembly on trucks imported from Japan through the 1995 model year, when NUMMI began full-scale production of the Tacoma, a pickup truck designed exclusively for the North American market.{{cite news |last=Stewart |first=Megan |date=January 9, 2015 |title=20 Years of the Toyota Tacoma and Beyond: A Look Through the Years |url=https://www.motortrend.com/features/20-years-of-the-toyota-tacoma/ |work=Motor Trend |access-date=May 10, 2023}}

Between 2004 and 2008, TABC was the assembly location for the first U.S.-produced Hino Motors commercial truck.{{refn|{{Cite news |date=April 17, 2008 |title=Toyota to close its area truck plant |language=en-US |work=Los Angeles Daily News |url=https://www.dailynews.com/general-news/20080417/toyota-to-close-its-area-truck-plant |url-status=live |url-access=subscription |access-date=June 1, 2021 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20220420085918/https://www.dailynews.com/2008/04/17/toyota-to-close-its-area-truck-plant/ |archive-date=April 20, 2022}}}}

{{As of|2020|12}}, the plant produces sheet metal and aluminum components, weld subassemblies, steering columns, catalytic converters, and painted service parts for Toyota's North American manufacturing facilities and for export to Toyota's facilities in Japan, along with producing catalytic converters and numerous past model service parts for Toyota Motor North America.{{refn|{{Cite press release |title=2020 Toyota Operations by State |url=https://www.toyota.com/usa/pdfs/toyota-operations-map-north-america.pdf |language=en-US |access-date=April 20, 2022 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210817171715/https://www.toyota.com/usa/pdfs/toyota-operations-map-north-america.pdf |archive-date=August 17, 2021 |website=Toyota Motor North America}}}}

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• {{Google maps|url=https://www.google.com/maps/place/TABC/@33.871547,-118.161542,478m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m13!1m7!3m6!1s0x80dd33279f991639:0xe90fba2f4c858d93!2s6375+Paramount+Blvd,+Long+Beach,+CA+90805!3b1!8m2!3d33.8707279!4d-118.160587!3m4!1s0x80dd33264cfbd0e3:0xa5f53bcb0d2fa4a9!8m2!3d33.8706739!4d-118.1602583?hl=en|title=TABC|access-date=April 20, 2022}}

{{Toyota Motor Corporation}}

{{Long Beach, California}}

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Category:1972 establishments in California

Category:Companies based in Long Beach, California

Category:Manufacturing companies based in Greater Los Angeles

Category:Motor vehicle assembly plants in California

Category:Toyota factories

Category:Vehicle manufacturing companies established in 1972