Toyota Motor vice chairman Fujio Cho has expressed his willingness to produce the Prius petrol-electric hybrid passenger car in the United States where demand for the vehicle have been increasing.
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”I have been proposing that the hot-selling car be produced in the United States,” Cho reportedly told a news conference in Lexington, Kentucky, where he was attending a ceremony to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the incorporation of Toyota Motor Manufacturing, Kentucky.
According to Kyodo News, industry watchers say Toyota is likely to pick the production site in the United States by the end of 2008 when it introduces a fully redesigned Prius.
In December last year, Toyota started the first overseas production of the eco-friendly Prius in China under a joint venture for the Chinese market, the report noted. Japanese-built cars are sent to other overseas markets.
Toyota has increased Prius annual production capacity in Japan to 180,000 units, but supply is short in the United States where consumers are opting to buy fuel-efficient cars due to rises in petrol prices.
Cho, who was president of the Kentucky manufacturing unit from 1988 to 1994, reportedly said he has instructed engineers in Japan to try to downsize components for the Prius to a quarter of existing ones.
Such efforts are essential for Toyota to reduce the cost of manufacturing hybrid cars at overseas plants because overseas factories have to procure key components such as batteries from Japan, Kyodo News noted.
