Toyota To Build Prius In U.S. Plant

(AP)  Toyota Motor Corp. will start producing the hybrid Prius in the U.S. for the first time as the Japanese automaker adjusts its U.S. manufacturing operations to meet customer demands for smaller, more fuel-efficient vehicles.

The company said Thursday it will start producing the Prius in 2010 at a plant it is building in Blue Springs, Miss. Toyota already builds a hybrid version of the Camry sedan at its plant in Georgetown, Ky., but this will be the first time the Prius, which has been on sale for more than a decade, will be built outside of Asia.

The company also said it will suspend production of the Toyota Tundra pickup at its San Antonio truck plant and the Toyota Sequoia sport utility vehicle at its Princeton, Ind., plant for three months starting Aug. 8 because of declining demand. Next spring, it will stop producing Tundras in Princeton and will consolidate all truck production in San Antonio.

The Princeton plant will now make the Toyota Highlander SUV, which originally was scheduled to be made in Mississippi.

Toyota said it made the moves as U.S. demand for trucks and SUVs continues to decline. Toyota's U.S. sales fell 21 percent in June compared with the year before, an even steeper decline than the industry-wide slump of 18 percent. Sales of the Tundra were down 54 percent while sales of the Prius fell 34 percent as Toyota failed to keep up with growing demand.

"The truck market continues to worsen, so unfortunately we must temporarily suspend production. But this good news about production mix demonstrates our long-term commitment to our North American operations and to our team members, suppliers and communities where our plants are located," Jim Wiseman, vice president for Toyota Motor engineering and Manufacturing North America, said in a statement.

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Toyota said the workers who build its trucks and SUVs as well as the Huntsville, Ala.-based workers who build engines for the Tundra and Sequoia will stay on the job through the shutdown. The San Antonio plant employs 1,900 people, while the Princeton plant employs nearly 4,500.

Toyota has 13 North American plants and two under construction in Mississippi and Ontario. The automaker has more than 43,000 workers in North America.

Toyota's moves follow production cuts at General Motors Corp. and other automakers. GM said last month it is cutting shifts, reducing assembly line speeds and temporarily idling seven factories because of declining consumer demand for truck-based vehicles. Chrysler LLC has announced plans to close a minivan factory and cut a shift at a full-size pickup factory, while Ford has said it is cutting production for the rest of the year.

Toyota's U.S. shares rose 85 cents to $92.33 in morning trading in New York.

[kennedy7955]

"Cmon ppl the Chevy Volt is scheduled to begin production by 2010 and all indications are that it will be better than a prius(but different because it is a plug in electric instead of a hybrid) Hybrids will soon be as obsolete as the suv''''s are becoming. Better late than never. I expect GM to probably lead America through this transition if they can survive."

GM is an example of everything wrong with this country. A big behemoth of a company producing crappy cars, focusing on the short term. When it had the future in its hands with a plug in electric (EV1), it pissed it all away with lawyers and scrapping the cars and technology it had founded.

Now GM wants to come out with the Volt, which has been pushed back to production in 2011. GM has serious battery production issues and technology problems. The cars are expected to start at over $30,000

Screw GM, screw Ford and Chrysler. They are f-ups and deserve everything they have gotten. Let them continue to build more and more of their crappy cars in Canada and Mexico. Meanwhile Americans will be buying the better built, more desirable Toyota''s, Nissan''s, Hyundai''s, BMW''s and Mercedes built here in the USA by the UAW.

[kennedy7955]

Toyota is going to build more cars in the US. Meanwhile Ford is building more cars too but in Mexico. Need I say more about buying American? As George Carlyn said, "It all BS folks and its bad for ya."

[hotwitch]

"Toyota said it made the moves as U.S. demand for trucks and SUVs continues to decline." Don''t kid yourself. The Tundra was never in demand. It''s not a work truck, it''s basically a car shaped like a truck, that''s why sales are down 54%. Contractors and fleet sales will always keep Ford, Chevy, and Dodge trucks in demand.

[brianbwb-2009]

Here in Singapore, Toyota has announced that they will make a Prius with solar cells on the roof to power the air conditioning unit.

Amazing how Detroit still doesn''t understand.

Oh well, good riddance to stupid corporations...

[eddom949]

I dunno what would attract Toyota to the Delta, catfish maybe?

[sparks224]

The Toyota management people are making sound decisions.

GM, Ford, and Chrysler management have been making bad decisions, getting muli-million dollar bonuses and complaining about the cost of labor.

What''s wrong with this picture?

[hbevis]

THERE ARE ALSO WAYS TO USE WATER FOR FUEL AS AN ADD ON.
THE TWO GAS''S ARE SIMPLY FED INTO THE INTAKE MANIFOLD. I KNOW PEOPLE THAT ARE USING THAT SYSTEM AT THIS MOMENT.

[hbevis]

What ever happened to the technology that would let us use water for fuel? It has being used for over 45 years for gas welding of very small parts. And has been used in cars for a number of years. Has the oil companies bought that technology as well. Nothing burns as clean and Hydrogen and Oxygen. All that is needed is a small water tank to run many miles when it is broken down into its two respective elements.

[apprxam]

The Japanese are going to save the American economy, wow! GM and Ford can''t re-tool and Toyota can. Cutting out the Tundra and increasing the Prius, now that''s a business of flexibility. The real funny thing is that sales of the Prius went down this year. Only because they couldn''t make enough, ***.

What the hell is wrong with American know how? The funny thing about this is that 28/29 years ago, Datsun and Toyota were showing the way back then and the big three went the way of Reagan and cheap oil.

[oneworldusa]

Priuses (sp?) have been a hot commodity in the US for years, and certainly will continue to be with fuel prices what they have been, are now and likely to be in the future. Why not create some American jobs out of it? This is a good move for Toyota and America.

Besides, gas is too expensive to ship Priuses from overseas, so as I''ve said before, these high gas prices are going to bring jobs back to America.