San Antonio – When it comes to putting together a TV show dedicated to all the incredible things there are to experience in the Lone Star State, it takes quite a bit. Our most important tools to tell these stories include our cameras, microphones, tripods, and of course, our vehicle. For the past few years, we’ve been sponsored by Toyota, and that means we get to traverse Texas in our luxurious Capstone Sequioa or Platinum Edition Tundra and let me tell you, it’s been a major upgrade. “I love the wrap,” said Susann Kazunas. “That is so cool how you are using the truck, how you’re using the Sequoia, all the things that you’re doing.”

Susann is the president of Toyota Manufacturing Texas, and she’s in charge of a massive manufacturing facility in San Antonio where every Tundra and Sequioa are built. That’s right, right here in the Lone Star State! “Of all the places where our manufacturing plants are, San Antonio, it’s one of the places with the most allure,” said Susann. “I mean, you’ve got sports, you’ve got the Spurs, you’ve got the city, you’ve got Fiesta, you got rodeo. There’s a ton. From a personal perspective, it’s just a fun place to live, and from a work perspective, we have an incredible team here.”

3,715 Texans come to work each day at this 2.2 million square foot facility where 208 thousand vehicles are made each year. “My favorite part of my day is coming to work because I get to walk down this main aisle,” said Susann. “Every single person is so friendly. Just seeing the energy and the passion in the plant, it makes your day start out on a positive note every single day.”

While you might think this plant is just like any old warehouse, to the people who come to work here everyday, it’s something a bit more special. “I will argue that there is a misconception about manufacturing,” said Susann. “It is a really fun job. It’s incredibly tangible. When you drive down the road and you see something you made, there is just a sense of pride.”

Diego Rodriguez has been working at the plant since 2021. He’s a team leader for the Vehicle Confirmation Inspection crew. “That’s where the vehicle comes off of the line after everything is complete, and they start it up, drive it off the line,” said Diego. “We do our initial checks for it, making sure all the switches work, the sunroof works. We align the vehicle. We adjust the tie rods, making sure that the vehicle is aligned. It’s exciting. It’s one spot I hope to stay for quite some time.”

Diego gets to see the Tundra’s and Sequoias at the end of their manufacturing journey, but the entire process takes almost an entire day and involves thousands of parts. It all starts with sheet metal stamped on site. “They’re attaching over 3,500 parts in the assembly shop,” said Susann. “Where we start, that comes in as just a painted cab, and one by one we go through the assembly order so that we can build up the vehicle, wire harnesses, floor carpeting and you got your seats and then so on and so forth, and it just keeps building until you have that finished vehicle that comes down the final line. At 62 seconds takt time, which means that you’re making a truck every 62 seconds, from start to finish in the body shop, which is where we put the body number in the vehicle, it’s a little over 18 hours.”

Everyone in the facility makes their mark on each vehicle that passes through these doors. “There’s pride in seeing the truck come off the line, but just when you’re walking through our plant and you see every team member has a task, there’s something specific that every single person is doing to add value to the vehicles that we make to make sure that the content is there and that the quality is being confirmed for our final customer, and it’s just gratifying,” said Susann.

Before getting to be the first one to ride in a new Tundra, Diego explained what we were witnessing. “We’re pretty much at the tip of the iceberg now, but all of these little checks that they do are tedious and imperative to the quality of each vehicle,” said Diego. “It seems impossible, but you have every person doing their checks, and it all goes towards one vehicle.”

It was then time to take one of these beautiful trucks off the line. A 1794 Edition Tundra was Diego’s vehicle of choice. “1794 takes us back to the original owners of this property that we’re sitting on right now,” said Rob Franklin.

Rob is the Vice President of Administration. When Toyota moved to San Antonio in 2006 to build Tundra’s, Rob was selected as a project lead and the move was no-brainer. “Well, let’s build vehicles where we sell them, and, of course, Texas was easy to imagine, the number one place where you’re going to find pickup trucks,” said Rob.

“I can never imagine the Tundra being built anywhere else but Texas,” said Susann. “We know that we’ve got great customers, we’ve got the best workforce, and we’re really excited about the products we make, and we’re going to keep making them.”

Getting to tour this campus and see the manufacturing process isn’t something only TV shows can do, anybody can have this incredible tour of the Toyota plant. “We have tours three days a week; Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, three different time slots,” said Susann. “We love seeing people come watch us build the trucks.”

A visit to this plant really shows how valuable it can be to have a connection between a company and a community. “If you spend an hour, an hour and a half here on our campus, you understand a little bit of not only the history of the Toyota but really about what we’re doing in South Texas right now,” said Rob. “This is our community and our family, and they’ve made this their home, and they’re contributing to the best built truck on the planet.”

“You look at your vehicle, you get in it every day, but you don’t think about how it was made,” said Diego. “And this is definitely something that I think everyone needs to see.”

“There’s nothing more Texan than trucks, and we are so proud to be a truck builder right here in San Antonio with our incredible workforce, being able to make the best trucks on the market,” said Susann. “That’s what makes us Toyota Texas.”