Governor says Tennessee is on Toyota short list

NASHVILLE -- Tennessee is on a ``relatively short list" of sites in different US states where Toyota Motor Corp. is looking to build an eighth North American vehicle assembly plant, Governor Phil Bredesen said in a newspaper interview.

Bredesen spokeswoman Lydia Lenker confirmed yesterday that the governor told The Wall Street Journal that Toyota is considering two sites in Tennessee.

One is close to Chattanooga in southeastern Tennessee, and the other is near Alamo in western Tennessee along Interstate 40.

Toyota has said publicly it is scouting a site to build another North American plant, but has not disclosed specifics about its search.

Toyota will open a truck plant in San Antonio this year and a plant in Woodstock, Ontario, in 2007.

Bredesen said he's not sure when Toyota will make a decision.