Iowa has lost its bid for a Toyota-Mazda manufacturing plant, the Iowa Economic Development Authority confirmed Tuesday.

"Unfortunately, we have been eliminated from consideration for this project," said IEDA spokeswoman Kanan Kappelman. "They didn’t specify, but apparently we didn’t meet the parameters of the project."

Kappelman said the state submitted the Big Cedar Industrial Center in Cedar Rapids for the project. The 1,300-acre, so-called "mega site" is being operated by Alliant Energy, which wants to see an increase in high-volume power users.

"Based on the company’s criteria, the top location contender was definitely Big Cedar," Kappelman said.

In August, Toyota and Mazda announced plans for a giant, joint-venture factory. Toyota plans to build Corolla models for the North American market and Mazda plans to build crossovers that will be new to the continent at the new factory.

The news from the Japanese automakers immediately sparked a competition among states hoping to land the $1.6 billion project, its 4,000 jobs and the satellite suppliers that follow auto plants.

Iowa was reportedly among 11 finalists for the project in August. But last week, the list began to winnow, as states announced that they had been eliminated from contention for the facility. In an interview with Automotive News, an Illinois economic development official said the three finalists still in the running to win the Toyota's plant were all located in the southeast.

Kappelman said Toyota offered no reasons for Iowa's exclusion from the project. It would have been Iowa's first foray into auto assembly, an industry that IEDA Director Debi Durham has sought to recruit to the state.

"We commend the various stakeholders that contributed to the proposal and we stand ready in welcoming and exploring investment opportunities for our state," she said. "If anything, I think this experience has shown that Iowa is a formidable competitor in terms of attracting world-class investment."

Toyota officials offered little insight into its selection process Tuesday.

"We are diligently working through the vetting process with several states at this time," said Toyota spokesman Kelly Stefanich. "We aim to have a decision no later than the beginning of 2018."