Toyota to Make Prius in the U.S.By Bill Vlasic and Nick Bunkley, NYTimes, July 11, 2008. "Toyota acknowledged Thursday that, like its rival automakers in Detroit, it misjudged the drastic swing in the American market away from larger vehicles. With sales of pickups and big S.U.V.'s tumbling, Toyota said it would shut down truck production at two United States plants for three months and consolidate its pickups into one factory next year. The Japanese automaker also said it would begin making its Prius gas-electric hybrids in a new plant in Mississippi by late 2010 to meet demand for more fuel-efficient vehicles... While overall vehicle sales have dropped 10 percent this year, sales of large pickups are down about 25 percent through June, and S.U.V. sales have fallen over 30 percent... Toyota is taking a page out of Detroit's playbook by ceasing truck production at its plants in Princeton, Ind., and San Antonio from Aug. 8 until early November. The company will also suspend production of V-8 engines at a factory in Huntsville, Ala. More than 4,000 employees will be affected, but the workers will be paid and attend training sessions during the shutdowns."
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