Toyota AZ Proving Grounds Now Accessible to Other Makers?

A way to offset costs by adding some green?

The Toyota Arizona Proving Grounds (TAPG), Toyota’s proprietary U.S. vehicle development and testing facility, will become available to the broader industry as a vehicle testing resource as it officially launches the Arizona Mobility Test Center1 (AMTC) at TAPG in Wittmann. Toyota (NYSE:TM) has contracted with Intertek Transportation Technologies to operate the facility and provide tenant management and related services under a new multi-year agreement, while Toyota maintains ownership and continues its testing activities at TAPG. Intertek will also market AMTC to attract tenants and manage the leasing business.

This is an unusual move in AutoInformed’s view because testing grounds by their very definition are involved with the operation and testing of future products that are usually closely guarded secrets. It might be the latest example of the extreme demands on capital and resources that automakers are grappling with as the industry rushes headlong into the unknown future of mobility involving autonomous and electric vehicles. It is one way to offset some of enormous and ongoing costs involved.

Part of AMTC will include an area of land for tenants to construct their own office and garage spaces as part of their facility use. Toyota is also constructing its own new facilities, including expanded off road test facilities and a noise pass-by evaluation course at AMTC.

1 The Arizona Mobility Test Center at TAPG is located in the Sonoran Desert near Wittmann, Arizona, a town about 60 miles northwest of Phoenix. The facility covers approximately 11,650 acres and has 77 miles of testing surfaces with 25 miles of paved roads, 52 miles of dirt tracks and a high-speed oval. TAPG was established in 1993 and has been home to testing nearly 50 Toyota and Lexus brand vehicles for the North American market during that time.