Toyota ’s Tupelo, Mississippi plant is currently earmarked for Prius production, but that decision could change as the Japanese automaker reevaluates its U.S. production plans. Toyota completed the $1.3 billion Tupelo plant last year, but has yet to produce a vehicle there.
Toyota reaffirmed its commitment to the Tupelo plant earlier this week, but says the decision on what vehicle to produce at the plant has yet to be made. “We’re very committed to that plant,” Steve St. Angelo, senior vice president of Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing North America Inc., told Automotive News. “But we’re looking at our whole portfolio and asking which products it makes sense to build or not build in North America.”
The Mississippi plant – which began construction in 2006 — was originally designed to produce the Highlander SUV but Toyota abandoned that plan in the summer of 2008 when gas prices topped $4 a gallon. In December Toyota announced the plant would produce the Prius hybrid, but has since cooled on that idea.
The plant’s construction was completed last year but no equipment was even installed. Toyota hasn’t given a timeframe of when the plant will be operational.
