Toyota’s US unit on Thursday said its new plant in Blue Springs, Mississippi, would be used to build the Prius hybrid, currently imported from Japan, although timing depended on how quickly the depressed US market recovered.
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A spokesman told just-auto the automaker would assemble the Prius in the southern state but only when the market turned upwards. No timing has yet been announced. The petrol-electric hybrid is currently made at two plants in Japan and assembled from Japanese CKD kits in China.
The automaker originally planned to build its Highlander [aka Kluger] SUV in Mississippi, replacing Japanese-assembled vehicles, but moved the model to Indiana where production started last October.
“Because the economy went sour, we had too much capacity and decided not to spend all the money – and to use our underutilised plant in Indiana,” said the Toyota spokesman. “We have not decided what date for the Mississippi plant – we are waiting to see what global demand for the Prius will be.”
Construction of the Mississippi facility has already taken place and with all the necessary infrastructure such as road and rail access in situ – “that’s one of the reasons we chose it” – Toyota is ready to react quickly to any market changes. “The only thing we lack is employees,” noted the spokesman.
The Toyota limbo in Mississippi is also matched by potential suppliers, who have equally delayed plans to start work. “There are around seven or eight new suppliers who have decided to locate in the area, but are on hold,” added the spokesman.
At this week’s Detroit show, Toyota Motor Sales (TMS) US president Jim Lentz said TMS was developing a Prius family marketing strategy for North America that “will take full advantage of the Prius brand equity.”
