Tennessee still strong contender for Toyota

Gov. Phil Bredesen last summer said Tennessee was on Toyota?s ?relatively short list? for a new assembly plant. And citing anonymous sources, The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday that Toyota has narrowed the candidates to sites in Tennessee, Arkansas and North Carolina ? and that it could announce its decision this month.

The possible sites in Tennessee are in Chattanooga and in Crockett County in the western part of the state, the newspaper reported. The Arkansas site is in Marion ? about 12 miles across the Mississippi River from Memphis.

Toyota spokesman Dan Sieger confirmed the company is studying whether it will expand its North American production, but declined to comment on the newspaper report.

?We have been looking at sites,? Sieger said by telephone from Toyota Motor Manufacturing North America Inc. in Erlanger, Ky. ?However, as a matter of policy we don?t discuss where we are in the study, our timetable for completion or any sites we may have visited.?

Bredesen has said the state?s track record with the auto industry may help trump more generous incentives that some surrounding states may offer.