Citing the global automotive sales downturn, Toyota announced today that it has suspended work on its new Tupelo, Mississippi, assembly plant that had already delayed Toyota Prius production fromlate 2010 to early 2011. Toyota says it will finish construction of the facility, but it will hold off on equipment installation, thus delaying the production date.
Toyota says the plant’s structure is about 90 percent complete. The automaker said in a statement that the employees already hired for the plant will keep their jobs, though no completion date has been specified. Toyota has invested $300 million to date in the assembly plant.
Initially, Toyota had planned to build the Highlander crossover at the assembly plant, but due to the slowdown in sales, the automaker made the decision to produce then hot-selling Priuses in Tupelo.
Toyota was set to build the all-new Prius, which will be unveiled next month at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit, at the Mississippi plant.
