Toyota Says Decision To Move To Texas Was Based On In House Study Not Political Efforts

Texas Gov. Rick Perry has crisscrossed the United States to persuade big employers to bring jobs to the second most-populous state.

For all the Republican’s efforts, Toyota Motor Corp.’s North American CEO, Jim Lentz, said the Japanese automaker relied on its own in-house analysis of 100 cities, rather than sales pitches, in deciding to move its headquarters to the Dallas area from Southern California.

Perry, 64, who touted Texas job growth as he sought the presidency in 2012, offered $40 million in incentives to help lure the world’s largest carmaker to bring as many as 4,000 jobs to a sprawling office park in suburban Plano. That may help the state’s longest-serving governor if he decides to run again for the White House in 2016.