Report: Mississippi Prius plant to open in June 2011

Toyota plans to begin pumping Prius hybrids out of its now-idle Mississippi plant as early as June 2011, the Tokyo Shimbun newspaper is reporting, along with Reuters. This could put the Mississippi plant online in time for the first new member of the Prius family (the FT-CH perhaps?).

The $1.3-billion plant opened in 2007 and was initially slated to build Highlander crossovers. Last summer, the plant was delayed and reassigned to produce the third-generation Prius. But everything was once again thrown into the air when the plant was further postponed in December 2008 due to the slumping automotive sales sector.

We've had all kinds of news coverage on the Mississippi plant here on PriusChat. Here are some good reads:

Mississippi Prius Factory to Open "When the recovery hits full stride"

Toyota to Finish Mississippi Plant, Produce Prius-branded Hybrids by 2011

Mississippi May Be Out For New Prius Factory; Miss. Newspaper Says "Uh uh!"