Toyota has announced that its iconic hybrid, the Prius, will be assembled at a plant currently under construction in Blue Springs, Mississippi. The announcement follows months of Prius shortages that have kept potential buyers waiting to in line for a new Prius -- and sometimes even paying more than MSRP for the privilege. This lack of production capacity has caused Prius sales to fall during a time when the popular hybrid should be leading the market. The irony of this has not been lost on Toyota, and has resulted in a display of decision making flexibility not often seen amongst major automakers.
The Mississippi plant was original slated to produce the Highlander sport utility vehicle, but the recent downturn in demand has forced Toyota to change priorities. Reflecting this shift, production of Toyota's full-size Tundra pickup truck and full-size Sequoia SUV will be shuttered for three months beginning in August. Even though the factory will not roll out any new Prius cars until 2010, Toyota and its dealers are confident that demand for the high-mileage car will remain high and demand for trucks and SUVs may never recover to former levels.
