Toyota has pushed back plans to build its Prius hybrid in the US by as much as six years.
Sources told Reuters production was unlikely to start until the next generation model.
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The company had planned to produce the hybrid at its new Mississippi plant but that was put on hold as the financial crisis hit demand.
In June Toyota said it would drop the Prius all together and instead build the Corolla at the mothballed plant in Mississippi [built, initially for the Highlander/Kluger but never fitted out – ed] after US production of that model ended with the closure of the NUMMI factory in California, formerly co-owned with General Motors.
Executive vice president Atsushi Niimi, who oversees production as well as regional operations in North America and China for Toyota, said: “The main components for the Prius such as the motor and battery are not mature enough for local production. We expect that they’ll be ready with the next re-modelling.”
Niimi, said the company would decide later where in the US it would make the fourth generation Prius, which is expected around 2016.
Toyota also faces the urgent task of cutting costs and boosting manufacturing efficiencies at home in Japan where it has capacity to build 3.9m vehicles annually, compared with actual output of 3.2m in 2009.
Although vehicle sales in Japan have been strong this year with the help of generous government subsidies and tax incentives on fuel-efficient models, those schemes, providing subsidies to replace cars 13 years or older, end in September.
Carmakers expect demand to shrink in Japan in the second half of the business year. Toyota could be hit hardest because the Prius, along with other hybrids enjoyed the biggest perks. It’s regularly topped the sales charts since the latest model went on sale in May last year.
