Built to Last: Toyota’s Mobility Journey

Seven decades. In the life of a nation, it’s a chapter. In the life of an industry, it’s an evolution. But for one company, it has been a promise kept – a promise not just to sell cars in America, but to assemble them here, alongside the people who drive them.

Those questions are at the heart of Built to Last: Toyota’s Mobility Journey — a cinematic half-hour documentary produced by Bader Media and funded by Toyota Motor North America. Hosted by Dallas-Fort Worth-based broadcaster Celena Rae, the program takes viewers behind the scenes of Toyota’s decades in America — from the first Toyopet sedan in 1950’s to the rolling hills of Georgetown, Kentucky, to the new battery frontiers of Liberty, North Carolina.

The story spans eleven U.S. manufacturing plants, 1,500 dealers, and nearly 50,000 American team members. It traces Toyota’s nearly 70-year commitment — from assembly lines and supplier networks to cutting-edge battery production. That commitment continues today through more than $60 billion in announced U.S. investments, including the landmark $14 billion battery manufacturing facility in Liberty, North Carolina — the largest economic development project in the state’s history.

Along the way, Celena Rae meets with Toyota leaders, U.S. governors and senators, and the men and women on the factory floor who bring the company’s vision to life. Together, they reveal how Toyota is navigating one of the biggest transformations in automotive history through a multi-pathway approach — advancing hybrid, plug-in hybrid, battery electric, and emerging technologies to deliver practical solutions for drivers, communities, and the future of mobility.

DISTRIBUTION

Premiere schedule:

• National Premiere: Saturday, June 27, 2026, 7 AM (ET & PT) on Discovery Turbo with an encore airing on Saturday, July 11, 2026.
• Discovery Go (Streaming): https://go.discovery.com/
WHAT VIEWERS WILL LEARN

• Roots & Commitment: Inside Toyota’s flagship Kentucky operation in Georgetown — Toyota’s largest manufacturing plant in the world, spanning nine million square feet — where 87 ‘Day One’ team members from 1986 are still on the floor today, anchoring a new $800 million investment in electrification.
• Powering the Future: A first look at the $14 billion battery ‘mega-site’ in Liberty, North Carolina — the largest economic development project in that state’s history — designed to produce 30 gigawatt-hours of battery power annually for hybrid, plug-in hybrid and battery electric vehicles assembled in the United States.
• Toyota Across America: A coast-to-coast exploration of Toyota’s American story—from Toyota’s headquarters in Plano, Texas, to the engine lines of Huntsville, Alabama; the truck capital of San Antonio; Buffalo, West Virginia’s hybrid transformation; and the families, workers, and communities that have shaped generations of manufacturing excellence in Princeton, Indiana.
• Safety, Sustainability & Spirit: A look at the ‘living blueprint’ for sustainability at Toyota’s Plano headquarters — including one of the largest corporate solar arrays in Texas and rainwater cisterns that collect as much as 400,000 gallons — and inside Toyota’s Collaborative Safety Research Center in Ann Arbor, Michigan, where life-saving innovations are shared as a ‘gift to the industry.’
• A Multi-Pathway Strategy: A clear-eyed look at Toyota’s many electrified vehicle options across the Toyota and Lexus brands, and how a portfolio approach including hybrids, plug-in hybrids and battery electrics are meeting the needs of every type of American driver.

Join us as the program follows Celena Rae’s journey across the heartland — from the Lone Star State, to the rolling hills of Kentucky, to the new battery frontiers of North Carolina — through the people, the innovation, and the spirit that are truly built to last.
Photo credit: Toyota
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