Toyota to build Prius in Mississippi
Tundra and Sequoia production will be idled for three months
Lindsay Chappell
Automotive News
July 10, 2008 - 9:23 am ET
Toyota Motor Corp. today revealed that it has scrambled its
manufacturing plans to produce fewer light trucks and more hybrid cars
in the United States.
Toyota said it will build the hot-selling Prius hybrid at its Tupelo,
Miss., factory in late 2010, scrubbing a plan to make the
next-generation Highlander crossover there.
Instead, the Highlander will be added to Toyota's underutilized truck
plant in Princeton, Ind. Toyota also will suspend all production of
Tundra pickups and Sequoia SUVs from Aug. 8 until November.
When production resumes, all Tundra output will be consolidated at the
San Antonio plant.
PRESS RELEASE: Toyota to Build Prius in U.S.
Highlander to Indiana; all Tundra to Texas
ERLANGER, Ky., July 10 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Toyota is responding
to changes in consumer demand and improving the production efficiency
and stability of its North American operations by adjusting production
mix at three plants. The changes include the addition of the Prius
hybrid sedan to its North American lineup.
The changes are as follows:
-- Prius will be built at a plant under construction in Blue Springs,
Miss. Production is scheduled to begin in late 2010. Prius, which will
join the Kentucky-built Camry Hybrid as the second Toyota hybrid built
in North America, enables Toyota to better respond to increased
consumer demand for hybrid vehicles.
-- The Highlander mid-size SUV, originally scheduled to be built in
Mississippi, will now be manufactured in Princeton, Ind., beginning in
Fall 2009.
-- Production of the Tundra full-size pick-up truck, currently built
in Indiana and Texas, will be consolidated at the San Antonio plant in
Spring 2009.
In addition, Toyota will temporarily suspend Tundra and Sequoia
production beginning August 8 due to the declining overall market for
full size trucks and SUVs. Production is scheduled to resume in early
November. Team members at both facilities, as well as the Huntsville,
Ala. plant that builds Tundra and Sequoia engines, will continue to be
provided work.
"The truck market continues to worsen, so unfortunately we must
temporarily suspend production. But this good news about production
mix demonstrates our long-term commitment to our North American
operations and to our team members, supplier partners, and communities
where our plants are located," said Jim Wiseman, vice
president/external affairs for Toyota Motor Engineering &
Manufacturing North America (TEMA). "By using this downturn as an
opportunity to develop team members and improve our operations, we
hope to emerge even stronger."
Toyota (NYSE:TM) established operations in North America in 1957 and
currently operates 13 manufacturing plants. In addition, new plants
are under construction in Ontario and Mississippi. Toyota directly
employs over 43,000 in North America and its investment here is
currently valued at more than $21 billion, including sales and
manufacturing operations, research and development, financial services
and design. Toyota's annual purchasing of parts, materials, goods and
services from North American suppliers totals more than $30 billion
per year. For more information about Toyota, visit www.toyota.com .
It will be nice to have a hybrid that is at least assembled in the US.
Sales of the all new Tundra have been dismal from the start, but now they
are in the dumper. Toyota made a lot of smart moves over the years by
moving its vehicles upscale, adding luxury cars and SUVs to follow the
domestics to were the market was going.
Tundra was the wrong vehicle, at the wrong price, at the wrong time.
American truck buyers are a different breed than American car buyers, they
want American trucks not simple one merely assembled in the US of mostly
imported parts and materials.
The Tundra has been heavily discounted since introduction, up as high as
$9,000. Thousands of brand new trucks were dumped, at thousands less than
invoice at the Manheim auctions in and effort to make the sales numbers look
better for the past two years to no avail.
Since Toyota sell vehicles to distributers, not franchise dealers as do
domestic manufactures, they can sell directly to Fleets. They were
offering huge discounts but there were few or any takers. The only fleet
that bought them were the rental companies.
Toyota discounted a bunch of the slower selling Camry Solaras to the rental
car companies as well, to keep the Accord from taking the top selling car
spot.
"C. E. White" <cewhite3@mindspring.com> wrote in
message news:g555ak$hoq$1@registered.motzarella.org...
