Toyota is wasting no time in taking advantage of the new free-trade agreement between the U.S. and South Korea by announcing plans to begin exporting the U.S.-built Sienna minivan  to distributors in South Korea.    The Sienna is produced at Toyota’s manufacturing plant in Princeton, Indiana and this will be the first time it will be exported outside the U.S.  Shipments are scheduled as soon as this month. Toyota began exporting U.S.-built vehicles in 1988 and the exports increased 30 percent  in
calendar year 2010 to about 100,000 units.  With the start of these shipments to South  Korea, Toyota will now export U.S.-assembled vehicles to 19 countries around the  world.  
Other export vehicles include the Avalon sedan from Georgetown, Ky,  the
Sequoia sport utility vehicle from Princeton  and the Tacoma and
Tundra pick-up trucks from San Antonio, Tex.  Combined, these three U.S. plants directly employ more than  12,500 for an estimated 65,000 other U.S.  jobs at vendors and suppliers.  “Toyota’s North American operations are constantly working to identify and expand new  export opportunities for the vehicles we produce here, building on our extensive  investments in auto production, research and development in the U.S. and helping to maintain a strong, stable base of jobs,” said Yoshimi Inaba, president and COO of  Toyota Motor North America, Inc.  “With this development and other possible
achievements in the future, we hope to continue boosting exports from our North  American operations.”  By Joseph Szczesny