Toyota halts U.S. Prius project

[DainBramaged]

Toyota Motor Corp., with its sales plunging in the United States, is freezing its plan to build the Toyota Prius in a new plant near Tupelo, Miss. For how long? The automaker doesn't know.

Toyota's board in Japan reached the decision late today to halt the project "due to the steep decline" in U.S. sales.

Sales of the hybrid car have softened in recent weeks as gasoline prices dropped from a summer spike of more than $4 a gallon. The Prius sold 8,660 units in November, down from 16,737 in November 2007.

Total Toyota sales in the United States fell 32 percent in November.

This is the second time Toyota has changed plans on the $1.3 billion Mississippi project, which already has begun to draw component suppliers to the area.

In February 2007, Toyota announced it would spend $1.3 billion there to produce a new generation of Highlander crossovers. But after Toyota broke ground, SUV sales began to soften. In July of this year, Toyota said it instead would build the Prius there.

A spokeswoman for Toyota's North American manufacturing operations says the company will continue constructing the building, which is about 90 percent complete. The company made its decision today before it had begun ordering the equipment that would go into the plant.

Toyota has no timetable to resume the project, the spokeswoman says, but it will remain a Prius factory whenever the project restarts
http://www.autonews.com/article/20081215/ANA01/812150248/1176

[endarkenment]

1. Hows that plan to kill Detroit and the UAW working out now, Shelby?

You f'ing dimwits.

[napi21]

2. Hmmm, what do the RE Pubs have to say about this? Hard to blame

a union, huh?

[DainBramaged]

3. I wonder what they gave Toyota to build that plant?

[napi21]

7. Here's ONE article that gives most of the details.

Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour aggressively cultivated relationships with Japanese business leaders and courted investment opportunities from Japanese companies, helping to create a strong foundation for Mississippi to enter the competition for the Toyota project. Additionally, the state’s leadership at the legislative level was pivotal in gaining approval of incentive-related legislation necessary to help seal the deal. The state’s total investment in incentives for this project stands at around $136 million for public infrastructure and $80 million for training, on top of another $80 million for site preparation, among other things.

http://www.businessfacilities.com/bf_07_12_cover1a.php


Go down the page to read the "Silver Award". The first part of the article if about the inducements Pa. gave to Westinghouse Electric.

[DainBramaged]

9. All down the toilet

Gee Haley, another brick in the GOP wall to fall soon.

[jetphixer]

4. Shelby nice

Smooth move EX LAX I own 2 FORDS.Don't want you F"ing rice rocket

[spin]

5. If you favor green energy, hope for high oil prices...

otherwise your dreams of wind turbines, solar power and battery powered cars are doomed.

[DainBramaged]

6. No, I am sure Obama will follow the path to energy independence

it will create millions of jobs and reduce our carbon footprint. I don't think he will go back on this.

[spin]

15. In fact, I'm just listening to him say just that...

at a 5 pm press conference. Listening to him I have confidence that under his leadership, we will do much better than we have in the past.

Good. I would be willing to pay a higher price for green energy if we are able to achieve energy independence. I'm sure OPEC will sell energy cheap in order to sabotage our efforts.

If we are successful, we should be able to sell our new technology to the world.

The boys in Iran, Saudi Arabia and Venezuela will not be happy. They might have to cut back on some of their luxury items like this yacht owned by King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia:

[DainBramaged]

17. NO ONE wanted to listen to Jimmy Carter

let's hope everyone listens to Barack Obama

[spin]

21. The reason I voted for him...

was I felt he had a real message. Perhaps he can take control back from the multinational corporations and restore it to the people.

God, we need a change!

[NNN0LHI]

16. You want high oil prices?

The price of gas wasn't bothering me so much as I don't drive much. It was the price of food that skyrocketed due to high diesel prices that was killing me.

How long until we have a hybrid semi-truck?

Don

[DainBramaged]

20. My oatmeal just dropped down 63 cents without warning, must be transportation costs

Oatmeal and rice, the staples of the poor.

[spin]

22. My son in law who is a trucker...

says semis could be converted to run on natural gas. Less pollution and the engine would last longer. We have plenty of natural gas available here in the states.

[NNN0LHI]

25. Is compressed natural gas more explosive than diesel?

Seems like it might be.

Don

[spin]

26. Yes, CNG has both advantages and disadvantages...

Health and Safety Concerns. Natural gas characteristics potentially make it a greater safety hazard than diesel. Not only is natural gas highly flammable, but its vapors at low temperatures are dense and can form clouds of flammable vapor concentrations. The National Fire Protection Association gives natural gas the highest hazard ranking for flammability, while designating diesel as moderately flammable. Diesel fuel is less flammable because it usually does not form ignitable mixtures unless it is heated.
http://wasteage.com/mag/waste_trucks_fueling_diesel/

The link gives a good summary of the comparison.

[Maestro]

23. I hope we are smarter than that. I hope for stable oil prices

as we transition to more earth friendly forms of energy, but it looks like the American public is once again being short-sighted. We need more cars like the Prius and the Chevy Volt. I wonder if the Volt will ever see the light of day in 2010. :shrug:

[Name removed]

8. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Name removed]

11. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Kalyke]

10. I kept telling folks here that sales of these bubbles were tanking...

and I kept getting told that, "Noooo! There are waiting lists."

I wondered in what world. When a family is struggling, even if they need a car, they're not going to purchase a teeny car for $32,00-35,000 when they could get a bigger car for $25,000 that gets decent gas mileage.

I'm guessing I live in the real world, after all.

[DainBramaged]

12. Used car sales are through the roof everywhere

can't get accurate statistics right now, but it's easier to finance a used car (at higher rates) than new cars, and used is just fine for so many and the choices are very good. If you can only afford $12,000 over 48 months with interest, a certified used car with as long of a warranty as a new car is a great choice.

[Kalyke]

14. Agreed.

I've never purchased a new car. I got my 2005 Mustang in 2006 with only 6,000 miles on it.

Someone else took the showroom hit for me and I got a nearly brand new car for tons less money.

[ContinentalOp]

27. Argh, please stop it. You've been called on your lies before and yet you continue to spew them.

I bought my Prius for $26,000 in July at the height of the high gas prices. You're right that the waiting lists are a B.S. scam that some dealers use to try to get a premium above MSRP, but a Prius certainly doesn't cost $32-35k.

It does suck that there won't be U.S. built Priuses though. Hopefully they'll resurrect the project.

[DainBramaged]

29. I saw a new one on Cars.com for $28,000+, a 2009, MSRP

you could even see the window sticker. It's NOT a lie. As a matter of fact go to Toyota.com and BUILD one. SARTS at $22,000 (find a base one) and I got one to $29,696 plus transportation without even trying.

[ogneopasno]

13. But but but! I thought Toyota was the perfectest, progressivist, most well-adjusted company EVAH!

They make money off SUVs? They're affected by a crappy U.S. economy? Oh well, at least their employees love getting laid off.

[tammywammy]

18. Everyone's been posting that there's loooooong waiting lists for the Prius...I guess there isn't.

[DainBramaged]

19. Nope, and just mosey on over to cars.com and lookit all the used ones for sale

174 Vehicles within 50 Miles of my zip used.

[SammyWinstonJack]

24. Oops!

:yoiks:

[DainBramaged]

28. Yup, big time problems when you can buy gas at $1.50 a gallon.

HONEY, I TOLD YOU we shouldn't have traded in the truck on that little jelly bean, I told you, now how am I going to get the manure for your Spring plantin's???

[nc4bo]

30. Cheap gas is good but what happens when you don't have a job to be able to afford even that?

From what the economic soothsayers are saying, $1.50 will be the new $4.00 per gallon in the not too distant future.

Again, the little gas sippers and alternative vehicles will be kings of the road.

American people sometimes have the memory span of a fruit fly. So the gas drops to a buck a gallon, ever try scrounging up a measly dollar when you have no job? Aren't people even looking at the news or paying attention to the layoffs and other horrible things happening all around them?

sheesh.

p.s. - gotta tell the little woman to do what we do down here in the south. Throw a hitch on the little jelly bean, get yourself a lil ole trailer and keep it moving right down to the poo plant :rofl:.