Following the Tōhoku earthquake , the President of Toyota , Akio Toyoda , announced a reorganisation of the operations for the area , naming it the third production centre after Chubu and Kyushu . On 1 July 2012 Toyota Motors Tohoku , Kanto Auto Works and Central Motors were merged to form Toyota Motor East Japan . The new company focussed on developing and manufacturing compact cars , engines and other components . In August 2012 , Toyota Motor East Japan 's Higashi-Fuji plant started the production of the second-generation Porte and the Spade , replacing Daihatsu which had assembled the first-generation Porte at its Kyoto plant . In November 2015 , Toyota started the process of moving the production of the Vitz from Toyota Industries to Toyota Motor East Japan 's Iwate plant with the aim of consolidating compact/subcompact car assembly in the Northeast and reducing costs . The move was completed in October 2018 . Toyota also announced it plans to eventually transfer all the Corolla production from Toyota Motor East Japan to its Takaoka plant . Toyota Motor East Japan began manufacturing the second generation Sienta during 2015 , replacing Daihatsu as the assembler of that model for Japan . In December 2016 , the company started production of the C-HR at its Iwate plant . In November 2017 , it started the production of a new version of the JPN Taxi ( taxicab for Japan ) . The previous JPN Taxi models , manufactured at the Higashi-Fuji plant from 1995 onwards , were two versions of the Toyota Comfort . The new JPN Taxi is based on the Sienta and is being assembled at the same location as its predecessor . A full deployment of the new model is expected before the 2020 Olympics . Production of the second-generation Century , a model also assembled at Higashi-Fuji , stopped in January 2017 . In 2018 , Higashi-Fuji started to manufacture the third-generation Century . In June 2018 , Toyota Motor East Japan announced plans to relocate production and employees through its plants within the year . Later , the company also said it would close the Higashi-Fuji plant by 2020 and relocate production of the JPN Taxi and Porte to its Iwate and Miyagi plants . Other models would be transferred to different subsidiaries of the Toyota group . The Higashi-Fuji Technical Centre would continue in operation
Tōhoku earthquake
2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami
Toyota Motor East Japan