Toyota Auto Body To Increase Prius Output
09 March 2006
Nikkei. Toyota Auto Body—one of Toyota’s manufacturing subsidiaries in Japan—is increasing its production of hybrid vehicles to meet growing demand both in Japan and abroad.
Beginning in May, the company will double its assembly capacity for the Prius to 120,000 cars a year at its main Fujimatsu plant. The factory began manufacturing the Prius in October 2004 and currently exports around 70% of its output.
The company says a large backlog of orders for the Prius has built up in the US as a result of high gasoline prices. Toyota Motor hopes to eliminate this backlog in the near future by boosting production at the Toyota Auto Body plant. Toyota’s other Japanese facility manufacturing the Prius is the Tsutsumi Plant.
Toyota Auto Body will also begin assembling a new hybrid version of the Estima minivan (earlier post) in the near future. Toyota Auto Body primarily assembles recreational vehicles such as the Estima and the Land Cruiser sport utility vehicle for Toyota. Its production volume is expected to jump 38% to 720,000 units in the year ending March 31.
Good! Without the waiting lists, I'm sure the Prius would sell even better.
Posted by: Mike GR | 09 March 2006 at 10:33 AM
actually, the prius would sell better if there was no markup for it.
Posted by: lensovet | 12 March 2006 at 01:24 PM