Filed under: Hybrids/Alternative, SUVs, Trucks/Pickups, Hirings/Firings/Layoffs, Plants/Manufacturing, Crossovers/CUVs, Toyota
Prius production heading to Mississippi, Tundra to Texas
by Dan Roth on Jul 10th 2008 at 11:01AM 
Toyota's got some changes and rearranges underway with its North American facilities to better serve the demands of the market. The biggest news is that Prius production will be coming Stateside, which will help unkink the supply pipeline, if not also lower costs. A new facility in Blue Springs, Mississippi is being readied for the battery-pack-mobile, though the location was initially meant to turn out Highlanders. With consumer desires shifting with the rise of fuel prices, cranking out more Priuses is a higher priority, and beginning in fall 2009, the Highlander will shuffle off to Princeton, Indiana. With the Highlander elbowing its way into the Princeton plant, the vehicle currently produced there, the Tundra, will see its production move under a single roof in San Antonio, Texas.
The big-truck moves are of little consequence when the plants are scheduled to be idled beginning August 8th due to lack of demand. Huntsville, Alabama will also hold up on cranking out V8 engines. While Toyota is putting some plants in neutral, it pledges to provide employment to affected team members during the shutdown. All of this shuffling is an attempt by Toyota to avoid sustaining humongous hits as the market for new cars takes a dump, as well as ensuring that the products it remains building match up with consumer desires. Always a good thing to make the things people want.
[Source: Toyota/Open Road]
_opt_thumbnail.jpg)
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Pacman 11:07AM (7/10/2008)
Good to see production of the Prius will come to the US. Hopefully the Huntsville plant can start building something other than the V8.
Reply
G-Meister 11:59AM (7/10/2008)
hopefully that will be a T2B5 compliant DIESEL V8. some smaller diesels would be fine too.
inteller 12:38PM (7/10/2008)
yes, because you know we need to create more demand for $5 diesel!
inteller 12:38PM (7/10/2008)
yes, because you know we need to create more demand for $5 diesel!
Dude 11:16AM (7/10/2008)
Not to supply fodder for the tin-foil hat club, but this is the most positive story I've ever read about idling plants.
Think about it. Toyota heavily invested in truck and SUV production and is now scrambling to reorganize and trim because of the changes in the marketplace. Sound familiar?
Reply
richardtoh 11:35AM (7/10/2008)
That is actually a sign of good management. Once a changing market condition is detected, they adapt accordingly.
why not the LS2LS7? 11:52AM (7/10/2008)
richardtoh:
They're all adapting, not just Toyota.
And it doesn't take a brain surgeon to understand that you would be building vehicles which have no buyers. The dealers aren't placing orders, they'd literally be building trucks to then just have to pay to store them. I would think that no matter how dim a person's view of the domestics, they would see they have enough brains to notice the lots at the manufacturing plants are filled with vehicles with no buyers.
tankd0g 1:00PM (7/10/2008)
No brain surgeons in the UAW.
Jim 1:37PM (7/10/2008)
Oh, how could Toyota have bundled with the Tundra? I thought, with the rest of the media, Toyota could never make a mistake of any kind. Only the dumb domestics can do that. In reality, I think some of the luck is running out for Toyota. Now that the domestic are wide awake, I predict huge changes in the auto industry. In this country we tend to have a history of waiting the last minute before getting of our butts, and when we do, we usually get on top of the competitors. This won't happen overnight, but it will.
Richard S. 11:26AM (7/10/2008)
It was about time. Priuses are raking in so many sales that given enough inventory it could be one of the top 5 cars in sales in the U.S.
This is good for employment in the U.S., and hopefully will be even better as more parts of the Priuses are sourced within the U.S. rather than imported from Japan.
Reply
why not the LS2LS7? 11:34AM (7/10/2008)
This again shows that people who think Toyota somehow holds a massive edge in flexible manufacturing tech have placed too much faith in Japanese superiority.
Toyota is requiring months to convert a plant from one truck (Tundra) to another (Highlander). And their Tundra plant in Texas will be idled for months instead of producing another vehicle that is in high demand during the period.
Production changeovers take a long time and cost a good bit of money, even for Toyota. Every manufacturer right now is a bit behind the 8-ball, stuck producing a vehicle mix that doesn't really make sense with the rapid shift in buying habits. Each will be making the adjustments they can as rapidly as they can so as to stop building inventory.
Reply
2004m3driver 12:09PM (7/10/2008)
Well the important thing is they aren't having massive layoffs and plant closures.
why not the LS2LS7? 12:47PM (7/10/2008)
These are layoffs. When a plant is idled for 3 months, the workers don't get paid. I assure you this is a layoff, the government even refers to it as such. It isn't a permanent plant closure, which is good.
Permanent plant closures may or may not happen. Toyota might just slow completion of their new plants or might escape entirely. Make no mistake though, their hourly workers will be being paid less. Even when they are working, they won't be working as many hours. Some people are switching their large car purchases to small cars, while other people are just putting off car purchases entirely or buying used. This will reduce output from virtually all the car makers, and their hourly workers will see the difference in their paychecks.
I hope this whole thing passes over soon and we can get back to normal.
tankd0g 12:57PM (7/10/2008)
It's a good thing they aren't required to pay their workers full pop to sit at home like GM then isn't it?
why not the LS2LS7? 2:35PM (7/10/2008)
tankd0g:
You're referring to the jobs bank. Only older (higher seniority) workers are grandfathered into the jobs bank. Additionally, it doesn't apply to work-week cutbacks or "summer shutdowns" as these are. If GM has a permanent plant closure, some workers might go into the jobs bank from that.
Richard S. 11:34AM (7/10/2008)
I am not one of those who alwas bash the Big 2.5 but compared Toyota with GM: GM is idling its truck plants, but where is the announcement that the Opel Corsa will be built in its Mexico plants instead and be sold as a Saturn? Toyota quicky reacted by switching from a gas-guzzler to a hot car and has already announced the new production in about a little more than a year. Toyota reacts fast while the General is still in committee deciding what to do and hoping that the Volt will cure all ills....
Reply
Dude 12:17PM (7/10/2008)
The Chevy Cruze would like to have a word with you.
http://www.autoblog.com/2008/07/09/chevy-cruze-to-be-built-in-lordstown/
oldraven 12:22PM (7/10/2008)
Ford announced they'll be converting a number of truck plants to produce European Compacts, Sedans, and mini-vans over three weeks ago. Who's reacting fast?
why not the LS2LS7? 12:43PM (7/10/2008)
They're all reacting quickly.
tankd0g 1:00PM (7/10/2008)
Lordstown isn't a truck plant.