Toyota Shifts Prius Production To Mississippi Plant

Toyota announced that it will begin production of the popular Prius hybrid vehicle in Mississippi, in a facility that was originally intended to produce SUVs. The automaker will build the Prius at the Blue Springs, MS assembly plant, which is currently under construction.

Toyota decided to halt production of its Tundra and Sequioa models for three months in response to slow vehicle sales. The Blue Springs plant had been scheduled to produce Highlander vehicles, but sales of the model fell by nearly 40 percent in a single month. The sharp sales decline caused the company to rethink its production strategy.

Prius production will not begin there until 2010, and the company will shift truck production to its Princeton, IN facility. The Tundra production will be consolidated at the new Toyota assembly plant in San Antonio, TX. Overall, Toyota will cut truck production by one-third.

Toyota has been looking for a production facility for the Prius in the US and had been in talks aimed at securing the use of a GM facility in California. Toyota did not indicate whether it is still looking for a second Prius production facility in the United States.