Japanese automakers Toyota Motor Corp. and Mazda Motor Corp. announced Friday that they will invest $1.6 billion to build a joint manufacturing plant in the U.S.

Both sides said the venture will create up to 4,000 jobs and begin operations by 2021. According to the Associated Press, the plant will produce up to 300,000 vehicles annually, including Toyota Corollas and new Mazda cross-over models for the North American market.

"Toyota & Mazda to build a new $1.6B plant here in the U.S.A. and create 4K new American jobs. A great investment in American manufacturing!" President Donald Trump tweeted Friday morning.

Trump had previously criticized Toyota for taking auto production and jobs to Mexico. Forbes reports Mazda also faced scrutiny because it had no plant in the United States, importing its cars from Mexico and Japan.

Toyota President Akio Toyoda, however, denied being influenced by Trump to invest in the U.S. The company had first started a loose partnership with Mazda in 2015 and said it would produce Tacoma pickups in a Mexico plant, currently under construction, instead of Corollas after reassessing the market.

"We have been reviewing the best production strategy for our business," Toyoda told reporters at a Tokyo hotel Friday.

According to USA Today, the partnership points to "an acceleration of global consolidation and collaboration" as automakers seek to share the burden of rising costs to develop electric vehicles and self-driving cars. Toyota and Mazda will be 50-50 partners in the new agreement.

In a joint statement, the two brands said that they will both buy 5 percent of shares in the other company's shares, and will together develop "technologies for electric vehicles," connected technologies, and "advanced safety technologies." The AP reports Toyoda cited growing competition from companies that have recently entered the auto industry like Google, Apple and Amazon.

"This is a partnership in which those who are passionate about cars will work together to make ever-better cars," he said.

A location for the new U.S. plant has not been announced.