The Japanese newspaper Nikkei is reporting today that Toyota will build it's proposed new factory in Mississippi, but instead of building Highlanders, the new plant will build the first American-made Prius. The change in plans may mean the Mississippi factory, which will churn out the Prius as well as other cars, will not come onstream until 2011, the Nikkei said, at least a year behind original plans. The world's biggest automaker is also likely to suspend production at one of two assembly lines at its Indiana factory, where it builds the Tundra pickup and Sequoia SUV, by year-end for at least six months, the paper said. Citing company sources, it said the move was in response to falling demand for those models and would amount to a production cut of 50,000 vehicles a year. An announcement could come as early as today. UPDATE 1-Toyota to make Prius, not SUV, at new US plant-paper | Reuters Edit: It's official. Press release from Toyota:
Excellent news! This means the Gen 3 will be produced right here in America. Woohoo! Wonder if that means the new Prius minivan will be made here too. Can't wait. (Please God, tell Toyota to put adjustable-height seats in these cars...)
AP report states the same thing, but adds that a Tundra plant will stop production on the Tundra and be replaced with production of the Highlander Hybrid. "The official asked not to be identified because a formal announcement from the Japanese automaker wasn't expected until later in the day." Toyota announces US manufacturing changes: Financial News - Yahoo! Finance
This is TERRIBLE news. American-made toyotas have suffered severe reliability hits in recent years. Consumer Reports yanked their 'recommended' rating from the Camry due to reliability problems. And look at the Tundra. the sole reason the current Prius is so well built is because it is built in Japan. Sad day.
My Corolla was built in the U.S., and it is superb quality! I think we've all had this discussion before.
NO! What's the benefit to me (as a consumer) do I get from buying an American-made Prius for the same price? American auto workers are not trustworthy. I will still check the VIN, if it's not start with J, I will pass.
If Toyota is unable to ramp up production in existing plants now due to shortage of batteries, how will a new plant to build more Prii address this issue ?
U.S.-made Prii will make the supply higher, reducing any premium when demand is higher than supply, and it reduces the carbon footprint, because they won't need to be shipped across the Pacific and transported across the country. That will reduce its cradle-to-grave cost even further, and that's a good thing. It also puts people to work building a car that Americans want, and they will take all that money and buy houses and cars and all kinds of stuff rather than being laid off because nobody is buying the SUV they're building. We'll just have to avoid buying any that are made on Monday or Friday...
Here's the press release: Toyota/Lexus/Scion Pressroom: Toyota to build Prius in U.S. Highlander to Indiana; all Tundra to Texas
i now feel better having bought a japanese-made '08 recently...i'd like to think that my buying it helped drive up demand enough in america to force toyota to build them here....of course they're just adding sedans and subtracting trucks/suvs in america, so i suppose it could be a zero sum game, but still its good news imho
