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Toyota Will Build Prius in the U.S. Starting in Late 2010
ERLANGER, Kentucky — In a move designed to help satisfy demand for its Toyota Prius in the United States, Toyota announced on Thursday that it will build the popular hybrid at its Blue Springs, Mississippi, plant starting in late 2010. Also, Toyota Tundra and Sequoia production will be suspended in the U.S. from August until November due to "the declining overall market for full-size trucks and SUVs," the automaker said.
Toyota's announcement is a dramatic response to the seismic shift that has occurred this year as consumers respond to skyrocketing gas prices by shunning big trucks and SUVs in favor of smaller cars and hybrid vehicles. Toyota said its decision to build the Prius in the U.S. will let the company "better respond to increased consumer demand for hybrid vehicles."
The move is expected to increase the supply of Prius vehicles at a time when Toyota can't build enough of them to satisfy demand. Through the first six months of 2008, Toyota sold 91,440 Priuses in the U.S., off slightly from 94,503 a year ago. Like other automakers, Toyota has been struggling to meet hybrid-vehicle demand — in part because of an industry-wide shortage of hybrid batteries.
Toyota builds the Prius in Japan and in China at a joint-venture plant with FAW, China's second-largest automaker.
A Toyota spokesman was not able to provide Inside Line with production estimates for the Prius at the $1.3 billion Blue Springs plant, which is currently under construction. However, Toyota has said that Blue Springs will have the capacity to build 150,000 vehicles annually. The Prius will be the second hybrid that Toyota builds in North America; the Camry Hybrid is built at the automaker's Georgetown, Kentucky, facility.
The next-generation Prius is expected to be unveiled in January at the 2009 Detroit Auto Show. Prius production in the U.S. is expected to kick off roughly at the same time that Chevrolet Volt production is expected to begin in Detroit.
The Toyota Highlander SUV was originally slated to be built at the Blue Springs plant. The Highlander will now be built at Toyota's Princeton, Indiana, assembly plant beginning in fall 2009. Production of the Tundra, which is now built in Indiana and Texas, will be consolidated at Toyota's San Antonio plant starting next spring, the automaker said in a statement.
What this means to you: You should be able to get your hands on a Toyota Prius a little more easily by the end of the decade. — Anita Lienert, Correspondent
Toyota's announcement is a dramatic response to the seismic shift that has occurred this year as consumers respond to skyrocketing gas prices by shunning big trucks and SUVs in favor of smaller cars and hybrid vehicles. Toyota said its decision to build the Prius in the U.S. will let the company "better respond to increased consumer demand for hybrid vehicles."
The move is expected to increase the supply of Prius vehicles at a time when Toyota can't build enough of them to satisfy demand. Through the first six months of 2008, Toyota sold 91,440 Priuses in the U.S., off slightly from 94,503 a year ago. Like other automakers, Toyota has been struggling to meet hybrid-vehicle demand — in part because of an industry-wide shortage of hybrid batteries.
Toyota builds the Prius in Japan and in China at a joint-venture plant with FAW, China's second-largest automaker.
A Toyota spokesman was not able to provide Inside Line with production estimates for the Prius at the $1.3 billion Blue Springs plant, which is currently under construction. However, Toyota has said that Blue Springs will have the capacity to build 150,000 vehicles annually. The Prius will be the second hybrid that Toyota builds in North America; the Camry Hybrid is built at the automaker's Georgetown, Kentucky, facility.
The next-generation Prius is expected to be unveiled in January at the 2009 Detroit Auto Show. Prius production in the U.S. is expected to kick off roughly at the same time that Chevrolet Volt production is expected to begin in Detroit.
The Toyota Highlander SUV was originally slated to be built at the Blue Springs plant. The Highlander will now be built at Toyota's Princeton, Indiana, assembly plant beginning in fall 2009. Production of the Tundra, which is now built in Indiana and Texas, will be consolidated at Toyota's San Antonio plant starting next spring, the automaker said in a statement.
What this means to you: You should be able to get your hands on a Toyota Prius a little more easily by the end of the decade. — Anita Lienert, Correspondent
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