Toyota is experiencing such great demand for its Prius hybrid that it is reportedly looking at extending production of the car to Thailand.
According to Japan’s Nikkei business daily, Toyota would use Thailand as an export base for all of Southeast Asia – likely including some importation into Japan, where the Prius has been the best-selling vehicle for 15 straight months.
Toyota currently builds a version of its Camry Hybrid in Thailand and Nikkei reports that an expansion of Prius production would be easy enough that Toyota could begin building its dedicated hybrid by the end of 2010. Batteries and certain other components would continue to be sourced from Japan.
The Prius is built in Japan and China and the automaker had intended to begin production in the United States until it temporarily mothballed an incomplete assembly plant thanks to slumping North American demand last year. That plant, located in Mississippi, is scheduled to begin production of the Corolla next year.
