Toyota to Start Prius Production in Mississippi

As the demand for fuel efficient vehicles continues to increase, auto manufacturers

are scrambling to meet demand. Economy vehicles, such as Honda's Civic and Toyota's Corolla are at the top of buyers' lists, demonstrated recently when these two usurped Ford's F-150 and Toyota Camry from the top of the US sales chart; they've been sales leaders in Canada for much longer. Interest in hybrids continues to grow as well, and one of the most popular hybrids on the road is Toyota's Prius.

Currently, Priuses sold in North America are shipped in from Japan, and at the moment, Toyota's having trouble keeping up with incoming orders. The majority of Priuses built (130,000 units last year) were actually sent to North America. As a response, Toyota is reshuffling its factory plans so that the Prius can be built in Blue Springs, Mississippi at a plant that was originally to produce the Highlander crossover.

With decreased demand for large, gas-heavy vehicles like SUVs and pickups, Toyota will be reducing total output of the Tundra and consolidating production from its Princeton, Indiana and San Antonio, Texas assembly facilities. From '09 on, all Tundras will be built in the Lone Star State. This will free up space at the Indiana plant to build the Highlander.

And while these moves will certainly increase the capacity to build the Prius, Toyota still has other related problems on its hands, specifically that it's having trouble producing enough nickel metal hydride batteries. To meet demand, Toyota is constructing two additional battery plants in Japan.