TOYOTA Texas
By Rudy Arispe | Photography by David Teran
Carla Wright
Last year, more than 202,000 iconic Toyota Tundra and Toyota Sequoia trucks and SUVs rolled off the production line at the Toyota Texas manufacturing facility in San Antonio, and Carla Wright was accountable for every single one of them.
It’s quite a responsibility for Wright, a former elementary school teacher who started with the company 26 years ago as an administrative assistant at the Research & Development (R&D) headquarters in Michigan, and who, through determination, a track record of success, and natural leadership skills, is now Vice President of Manufacturing at the San Antonio plant.
“The last five years have been amazing,” Wright said. “I chose to do that jump from R&D. It was a matter of being fascinated with the idea of turning concepts into reality. In R&D, you’re thinking about concepts and vehicles coming to life 10 to 15 years down the road. Manufacturing is where innovation meets execution. It’s the heartbeat of mobility. Having the ability to combine cutting-edge technology with continuous improvement and teamwork inspired me to pursue this path.”
As Vice President of Manufacturing, Wright oversees Toyota Texas’s daily manufacturing operations across assembly, paint, plastics, welding, press, and plant engineering, including the upcoming Rear Axle Unit Plant set to launch in late 2026. Located deep in the heart of Texas, the San Antonio manufacturing facility is the exclusive home to the Tundra and Sequoia, assembled on the same production line. The soon-to-be 2.7 million square-foot facility has received a total investment of $4.7 billion and will soon employ more than 4,000 people to meet increased operational demands for those vehicles.
“My focus is ensuring long-term success in our operations by investing in advanced technologies and strengthening our culture as a preferred employer and community partner and by applying the Toyota production system to achieve breakthroughs in safety, quality, and productivity,” she said.
Her success in climbing the career ladder at Toyota didn’t come without overcoming obstacles along the way. One of the biggest challenges, Wright said, was navigating a traditionally male-dominated industry while balancing her professional growth and raising a family.
“There were moments of self-doubt when I had to advocate to be considered for leadership roles and learn to embrace the unique perspective I bring to the table based on my experience,” she explained. “The biggest learning curve was how to lead authentically. For women, when we come into male-dominated industries, we want to lead like our male mentors and see what they accomplished, but it doesn’t work that way. It’s about letting people see who I am and what I can do.”
She advises women considering a career in manufacturing not to let fear prevent them from pursuing their dream. “I tell them to go for it. You can’t get a more exciting job than manufacturing,” Wright said. “It offers incredible opportunities to innovate, lead, and make an impact. You can see that impact at the end of every day. Don’t be afraid to bring your unique talents to the table. Our voices are needed in every process from design to manufacturing. The industry needs diverse voices of females, where we make 80 percent of decisions about vehicles being purchased.”
After 26 years with the company, Wright believes she still has a lot more to contribute to Toyota Texas, and it’s her coworkers and work culture that keep her motivated after more than two decades.
“It’s the people and authentic relationships that drive me,” she said. “Having the ability to bring people from a variety of backgrounds and talents to solve complex problems and deliver quality products is what I enjoy the most, as well as seeing trucks roll off the line approximately every 60 seconds.”
Meanwhile, Wright’s background in education inspires her to advance Toyota’s commitment to workforce development, ensuring that employees have meaningful work and a career roadmap toward success. She is also a strong advocate for STEM education and workforce development in the community, serving on the board of directors for the San Antonio Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, as co-chair of their Education and Workforce Committee, and as a champion for their annual CORE4 STEM event sponsored by Toyota Texas.
Carla Underwood
Carla Underwood has her brother to thank for taking the leap into the very successful career she has enjoyed at Toyota, where she is now Vice President of Manufacturing Business Operations and General Manager of Production Control for Toyota Texas. If it wasn’t for him, it probably would not have happened at all.
After graduating from Eastern Kentucky University with a bachelor’s degree in police administration, Underwood planned to join the Drug Enforcement Administration. However, the test she needed to take would not be open until about a year later, but she knew she needed to find a job in the meantime. Her brother, who worked at the Toyota manufacturing plant in Georgetown, Kentucky, urged her to apply.
“I said, ‘No way. I’m not working in a factory,’ but he was very persistent, so I applied just to keep him quiet,” Underwood joked.
And so she did and was hired as a production team member putting on doors to Camrys and Avalons, Underwood recalled. That was 31 years ago, and she has never looked back or regretted it for one moment.
“I love it here,” she said. “My peers are like my second family, and many of them are my good friends. There are tons of opportunities if you put in the work.”
In the role she has today, Underwood’s responsibilities include oversight of Toyota Texas’s administrative functions, including the plant’s total supply chain and 23 On-Site Suppliers, Human Resources, Production Control and Internal Communications.
Underwood admits that she has encountered a few challenges along the way to get where she is today. “Manufacturing is a male-dominated field, so I always felt I had to work harder and make sure I was present at the table,” she said. “I’ve also worked at three different Toyota plants – Kentucky, Mississippi and Texas – so sometimes if people don’t know you, you have to prove yourself all over again and show them what you can do.”
Underwood is optimistic about the future of advanced manufacturing, such as the advent of digital tools. “There’s a lot of transformation going on right now, such as AI. It makes things completely different,” she said. “For instance, we can do faster ramp-ups because we can digitally build a factory and see it inside and out in 3D. So it saves a lot of lead time. There’s a lot of digital technology now that we didn’t have before. Our team can use these tools to make things faster, safer, and more efficient.”
She also enjoys serving as a mentor to three younger team members and meets with them monthly. “It’s about offering encouragement and helping with any problem they might have or sometimes offering advice,” Underwood said. “Sometimes, people don’t know how to navigate through a company, so you can help make sure they stay on the right path to be successful.”
In addition to serving as a mentor, Underwood volunteered in the Big Brothers Big Sisters of South Texas program with two sisters, then ages 12 and 10, for over nine years during her previous tenure at Toyota Texas from 2002 to 2016. That relationship led to Underwood eventually becoming their legal guardian.
“It started with me helping them with homework and other activities when they would come visit Toyota Texas, but then I started meeting with them on weekends because I enjoyed spending time with them so much,” Underwood said. “When I was going to move to [Toyota] Mississippi, they wanted to come with me. Their mom signed them over to me, and I became their legal guardian. Now they’re my daughters, and I have grandchildren from them.”
Underwood started with Toyota in 1994, holding a variety of roles at multiple vehicle plants, including Toyota’s flagship plant in Kentucky, Toyota Mississippi, and assisting with the initial startup of Toyota Texas in 2002. She returned to Toyota Texas in the summer of 2025. Her extensive automotive career includes all aspects of manufacturing business operations, from administration to production.
Media Contact:
Melinda Higgins Louden
Manager, Corporate Communications
TOYOTA MOTOR NORTH AMERICA
210-748-6103
Melinda.Louden@Toyota.com
