Toyota considers alternative use for Mississippi plant http://www.autonews.com/article/20090610/ANA02/906109987/1176
Toyota considers alternative use for Mississippi plant Lindsay Chappell Automotive News June 10, 2009 - 10:21 am ET BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- Toyota's stalled Prius factory project in Tupelo, Miss., might not be a Prius factory when work on the plant finally resumes. The company is entertaining new ideas about other products it could build there, said Steve St. Angelo, senior vice president of Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing North America Inc. "We're very committed to that plant," St. Angelo said here late yesterday. "But we're looking at our whole portfolio and asking which products it makes sense to build or not build in North America." St. Angelo, who spoke yesterday at the Automotive News Manufacturing Conference, said Toyota's most pressing issue is getting all of its plants and employees back to working at full speed before resuming the Tupelo project. He said no change to the plan has been made. But he acknowledged that it might be possible to produce the Prius hybrid at a different North American assembly plant and to use the Tupelo site for a different vehicle. He said the project would not go forward "until we understand exactly what we're going to build in the United States." Toyota broke ground on the $1.3 billion Tupelo plant in 2006 to produce Highlander crossovers. Last summer the automaker delayed the project and then later changed plans to produce the Prius there instead. But last December, Toyota halted the project indefinitely, opting to finish construction of the building shell and wait for market conditions to improve. Whatever Toyota builds at Tupleo will fall under St. Angelo's responsibility. Toyota Motor Manufacturing Kentucky in Georgetown, Ky., where St. Angelo is also president, will supervise the project when it resumes. St. Angelo said he has reassigned the approximately 120 Tupelo employees to other roles at Georgetown.
They are looking for a way out. do you think if the fate of the US made prius had not already been decided at least in the near-term(3-5 years) he would have talked about it?
It is unfortunate if the Prius is not built in a US plant because the latest tax code has a credit for US built hybrids...don't quote me but believe the figure is $3500. Only reason I know this is because in March when the new tax code came out I was purchasing my 2009 and researched any tax credits. With Toyota vehicles if the VIN starts with a "J" it was produced in Japan...if the VIN starts with a number it was produced in the US...according to my local Toyota dealer.
Huh.. I read the article as meaning that US production of Prius is a go, but new construction is on hold. So the Prius will be built elsewhere. For Prius advocates this MS news has zero interest. What current Toyota production will Prius supplant ? Off hand I'd say SUV or trucks.
Right, in fact, any of the Prius is now built in US. The underlying message of that article was Prius may never get built in the US. However, it was mentioned that it may be built in another NA plant. I took it as another US plant... but it could be in Canada too.
And that's my point with the tax credit...if the Prius is built in Canada it does not qualify for the credit. Any potential buyer would weigh this into their purchase...tax credit with another hybrid or no tax credit with the Prius. The Prius already exceeded the number sold to qualify for the initial tax credits a few years ago. Did I hear not too long ago that Prius would be built in Texas (or maybe is currently being built in Texas)...don't remember.
All Priuses here are made in Japan. They also make Prius in China but only for Chinese market. I don't remember hearing about Prius being considered to build in Texas.
The "Messiah"..... Toyota’s outgoing President Katsuaki Watanabe called Prius a “savior†for the world’s largest automaker....... -------------------------------------------------- Toyota-GM U.S. California Plant Said to Be Considered for Prius June 17 -- Toyota Motor Corp., after shelving plans to build Prius hatchbacks at a factory in Mississippi, is considering making the hybrid at a California plant shared with General Motors Corp., two people familiar with the plan said. Toyota expects strong demand in the U.S., where the new model went on sale this month and is raising output in Japan. Given the time and cost to finish the half-built Mississippi facility, it may be easier to make the car at New United Motor Manufacturing Inc., known as Nummi, said the people who asked not to be identified because the discussions aren’t public. “Toyota put Mississippi in mothballs and as they look around at capacity already in place, Nummi might make sense,†said Jim Womack, chairman and founder of Lean Enterprise Institute in Brookline, Massachusetts. “Nummi builds Corollas, and now that Prius comes off the same underbody pan, it wouldn’t be much of a stretch to build it on the same line.†Toyota’s outgoing President Katsuaki Watanabe called Prius a “savior†for the world’s largest automaker after it drew more than 80,000 consumer orders before going on sale, a rare bright spot as the company reels from its worst earnings slump in six decades. Prius was Japan’s top-selling model in May. “The plan is still to build Prius in Mississippi as soon as demand and this economy turn around,†said Jim Wiseman, vice president of external affairs for Toyota’s North American manufacturing unit. Wiseman said he’s unaware of discussion within Toyota to build Prius in California. Toyota-GM U.S. California Plant Said to Be Considered for Prius - Bloomberg.com
I saw a more recent post in a different thread that said the Prius will be built in Mississippi, but it will not be until 2011.
I believe the Prius is built in China for their domestic market. Don't expect manufacturing to shift anytime "soon" as the announcement left plenty of wiggle room.
That article's outdated. NUMMI is slated for shutdown in April, I believe. It's been causing a big stir in local news. There's currently talk of the Oakland A's building a ballpark there. If you're taking about the Energy Policy Act of 2005, you're slightly incorrect. All hybrids received up to $3500. However, it phases out for each manufacturer after they produce 60k qualifying vehicles. Toyota and Honda hit that number a couple years ago, leaving only the Americans. Summary of the Credit for Qualified Hybrid Vehicles
malorn, a GM dealer, tries to find gloom & doom for Toyota, where ever he goes (supposedly builds GM's image, in his way of thinking) . The article was what ... last year? Things change. The Gen III is doing great, sales wise, so who knows what they will build, and where. Toyota is already making gestures about U.S. manufacturing as their inventories shrink.
Very good points about the tax credit. That said the Nissan plant in MS has been a disaster. There were huge quality issues with the Titan/Armada/Infiniti QX, so much so they sent a team of engineers from Japan to figure out Wth (this was a few years ago). Quality has improved but it left such a bad taste the next Infiniti QX moves to a Petrol base and will be built in Japan.
