Toyota Considering California Production of Prius, Report Says
May 30, 2008
Toyota reportedly is talking with General Motors about producing the hybrid Prius at their
joint production plant in California, Japan's Tokyo Shimbun
reported Friday.
Toyota did not confirm the report. A company spokesman told AutoObserver: "We are always considering what should be the optimum structure of our production efforts. But nothing has been decided about building the Prius
at NUMMI."
Tokyo Shimbun reported that Toyota would produce the Prius at the New United Motor Manufacturing Inc. (NUMMI) plant in Fremont, Calif., a former GM facility that converted to a joint operation in 1984. The plant now makes the Toyota Corolla, Corolla-based Pontiac Vibe and Toyota Tacoma small truckThe Japanese paper reported that Toyota would ship key components from Japan to California.
Toyota wants to sell 1 million-plus hybrid vehicles a year from the early 2010s. It currently produces the Prius in Japan and China. Prius' global sales topped one million vehicles this month since the launch in Japan in 1997, followed by North America, Europe and elsewhere in 2000.
In the U.S., demand for hybrids, especially the Prius is soaring, due to climbing gas prices. Edmunds.com's analysis of shopping consideration by consumers on its web site of hybrids rose more than 100 percent during March and April compared with January and February.
"And the demand for Prius alone is almost at a fever pace," said Edmunds' analyst Jessica Caldwell.
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 11:21 AM under Rumors , Technology , Toyota | Comments (1) | digg this | Seed Newsvine
More jobs for Americans who want to drive these cars... sounds fine by me.
Posted by: sylvia | May 31, 2008 at 11:52 AM