Toyota may build Prius at GM plant
May 31, 2008 by David Twomey
Toyota is reported to be in talks with General Motors in the US about a plan to build the hybrid Prius at a joint production facility in California.
According to reports in Tokyo published by the respected Tokyo Shimbun newspaper the unlikely bedfellows could strike a deal to build the Prius for the first time outside Japan and China.
The Tokyo Shimbun said, without naming sources, that if the two companies reached an agreement, it would be the first time that the Prius, the world’s first mass-produced petrol-electric hybrid vehicle, was made in the United States.
Toyota may produce Prius cars at New United Motor Manufacturing Inc. (NUMMI), a venture established by the two groups in 1984 that currently makes the Toyota Corolla, Tacoma and Matrix plus the Pontiac Vibe, it said.
The Japanese company plans to ship key components from Japan and assemble them at the venture in Fremont, Calif., where demand for environmentally friendly cars is high, the newspaper said.
A Toyota spokesman in Tokyo declined to comment on the report, saying: “As usual, we don’t comment on the details of negotiations, but nothing has been decided yet on the reported NUMMI case.”
Toyota aims to sell at least 1 million hybrid vehicles a year from about 2010.It currently produces the Prius in Japan and China.
The carmaker said this month sales of the Prius had topped one million vehicles since the launch in Japan in 1997, followed by North America, Europe and elsewhere in 2000.
Print it: 
Hay people, hear the latest … GM have just shelved more projects and this time some RWD platforms that Holden was supposedly developing for them … OOCH !!
referance : GOAUTO under ‘news’
Read and weep !!
he, he, he … i lover it !!
Yeah Dingo the article you’re referring to says there are only 2 projects that are being shelved by GM being: the 2012 Chev Impala and a replacement for the Buick LaCrosse
However; the article went onto say that no other RWD project that is currently in the pipeline would be shelved apart from the 2 mentioned above.. which means the Torana is still a goer and is expected to be released by 2012
Although I guess you either didn’t read that part of the article or simply chose to ignore it
Anyway that’s only 2 cars out of the entire GM range – so it won’t really have that great an impact as you would like to think given that Holden is heavily involved in other areas such as design
I mean if Holden weren’t that important to GM do you think GM would allow Holden to draw up plans for expanding the factory at Elizabeth – which they are looking at doing
Just when you thought the looks of the Prius couldn’t get any worse…. a company in the USA have gone ahead and turned it into a Convertible. [www.edmunds.com/insideline]
On this evenings news it was reported that the PM has ordered the pollies to replace their current vehicles with a Toyota Prius. Barnaby Joyce the Nationals Senator from Queensland is asking why Aussie made vehicles are being replaced with a fully imported golf cart. A good description Barnaby.
How do you like that one TP.
Wheelnut … it said ’some’ and nothing about the Torana.
Did i hit a nerve … !!
Lets not forget GM has also shelved some next generation V8’s in recent times because of the new CAFE regulations.
Boy wander who are you kidding saying you cant compare them, the Aurion has won the large car of the year for the last two years…. they are direct competitors.
Nm what exactly do Ford have in a reasonable price range. Ever had a Celica equivalent? No. MR2? No. Theyve always been boring.
Well, there was the Capri Mk1, TP. MkII and MkIII were never sold here. Those and the Celica are history. There’s no equivalent to the MR2, but then, Toyota never produced anything quite like the Falcon GTs, either.
And I do agree with you that, despite differences between fwd and rwd, Aurion is vying for the same purchasers as Falcon and Commodore are. Therefore, they’re competitors.
Toyotas are boring? Check out this Aurion:
carsales.com.au/used-cars/dealer/TOYOTA/AURION/details.aspx?Cr=8&State=All%20States&R=5766158&state_id=0&__No=60&__Ns=pCar_StatusSort_Int32%7C1%7C%7CpCar_Price_Decimal%7C0&__N=4294962861%200%204294889509%204294888221%20%201216%20834%20285%20258%20287&distance=25&RegionID=&trecs=83&__Nne=20&seot=0&silo=1000&__sid=11A4FEC4490D&Model=AURION&__Qpb=true&Region=All%20Regions&Make=TOYOTA
How do you scare a Prius owner?Tell them that one of there tyres is slightly under inflated,causing an extra .0027per100km in fuel consumtion,Thus there are killing 3 baby ducklings more per100km.The Prius sterotypes people it makes women look dumb and men gay and or a geek.Sorry Prius onwers,not poking fun at you,but your car.I think internatioal aid agencys Should give physological & Emotional aid to all the people affected by this world wide energy crisis car.These car are only good for One thing,Making Politicians drive them HA.
TP, I think you ran off the page there. That was an awful amount of typing.
Don’t worry people there is a Hybrid on the Horizon which has everything the Prius lacks including Style in the form of the BMW Vision – check out the March 08 issue of Car [UK] magazine.
There is also a rather Cool Hybrid MPV in the form of the GM Opel Flextreme
Barnaby Joyce for Prime Minister-he tells it like it is and will go out on a limb for what he believes-good on u Barnaby!!!!_
I heard they may or want politicians to drive in prius’s or hybrids instead of Statesmans.
TP,
yep thats one Toyota I’d love to be seen in ha ha ha ha ha
i must ask how you spend your days to be able to pick up on that???
good humour…….