Toyota will begin exporting Kentucky-made Camrys to South Korea beginning in January at an annual rate of about 6,000.
This will be the second model Toyota exports to South Korea. The Japanese automaker began shipping its Sienna minivan, assembled in Princeton, Ind., to South Korea last month.
“The export of thousands of Camry vehicles to South Korea is an important development that builds on the work of our talkented U.S. team members as well as our extensive investments across North America,” said Yoshimi Inaba, president and chief operating officer of Toyota Motor North America, in a statement.
The Camry, built at Toyota’s 7,000-worker assembly plant in Georgetown, Ky., and at the Subaru of Indiana plant in Lafayette, has been the best-selling car in America for 13 of the past 14 years. This is the first time Camrys built in the U.S. have been shipped outside of North America.
Well, OK, I guess. Got that free trade deal signed, might as well take advantage of that cheap American labor.
Ahem.
This is your new global economy. If assembling the cars here is where we fit in, so be it.