R-34
02-13-2004, 08:44 PM
Toyota Motor Corp. President Fujio Cho said Thursday that the automaker may produce its Prius hybrid car in the United States in 2006, due to its popularity in North America.
"Starting local production will help boost demand" for the Prius, he said. Prius sales in the U.S. have brought manufacturing close to a break-even point where Toyota can begin local production, he said.
Cho said Toyota's sales target for the Prius in the U.S. market this year stands at 47,000 vehicles. The estimated break-even point is 50,000.
He said existing assembly lines at Toyota's U.S. plants can be used for Prius production, as is the case in Japan, although it will take "1 1/2 to two years" to prepare for the start of production.
Auto parts unique to hybrid cars, which combine gasoline engines with electric motors, must be procured, he said.
Toyota launched the all-new Prius model last fall. It proved an instant hit in North America, garnering top awards from a group of journalists and auto magazines.
Cho said Toyota will also step up its cooperation with General Motors Corp. as their landmark joint venture, New United Motor Manufacturing Inc., enters its third decade.
"We hope to develop this joint plant for a long time as the symbol of cooperation between us," Cho said during a ceremony marking the 20th anniversary of the joint venture in Fremont, Calif.
"NUMMI was Toyota's initiation into North American production," he said. "Without their partnership 20 years ago, Toyota would not be where it is today."
NUMMI was established in February 1984. It launched manufacturing operations in December that year as a foothold for Toyota's overseas production amid intensifying Japan-U.S. automobile trade friction caused by surging Japanese car exports.
Under the circumstances, then Toyota President Eiji Toyoda opted to set up the plant as an equally owned venture with GM, following in the footsteps of Honda Motor Corp., which pioneered the trend among Japanese automakers to shift some production activities overseas.
NUMMI produced 5.4 million vehicles by the end of last year, when Toyota's annual sales in North America surpassed 2 million units for the first time. Toyota's sales of 2.07 million cars made it the world's second-largest automaker after GM in terns of global sales.
Toyota said in late January that its group sales, including those by subsidiaries Daihatsu Motor Co. and Hino Motors Ltd., totaled about 6.78 million vehicles in 2003. The figure means that Toyota leapfrogged Ford Motor Co., which sold 6.72 million. GM's 2003 sales came to 8.59 million vehicles.
The Japan Times.
"Starting local production will help boost demand" for the Prius, he said. Prius sales in the U.S. have brought manufacturing close to a break-even point where Toyota can begin local production, he said.
Cho said Toyota's sales target for the Prius in the U.S. market this year stands at 47,000 vehicles. The estimated break-even point is 50,000.
He said existing assembly lines at Toyota's U.S. plants can be used for Prius production, as is the case in Japan, although it will take "1 1/2 to two years" to prepare for the start of production.
Auto parts unique to hybrid cars, which combine gasoline engines with electric motors, must be procured, he said.
Toyota launched the all-new Prius model last fall. It proved an instant hit in North America, garnering top awards from a group of journalists and auto magazines.
Cho said Toyota will also step up its cooperation with General Motors Corp. as their landmark joint venture, New United Motor Manufacturing Inc., enters its third decade.
"We hope to develop this joint plant for a long time as the symbol of cooperation between us," Cho said during a ceremony marking the 20th anniversary of the joint venture in Fremont, Calif.
"NUMMI was Toyota's initiation into North American production," he said. "Without their partnership 20 years ago, Toyota would not be where it is today."
NUMMI was established in February 1984. It launched manufacturing operations in December that year as a foothold for Toyota's overseas production amid intensifying Japan-U.S. automobile trade friction caused by surging Japanese car exports.
Under the circumstances, then Toyota President Eiji Toyoda opted to set up the plant as an equally owned venture with GM, following in the footsteps of Honda Motor Corp., which pioneered the trend among Japanese automakers to shift some production activities overseas.
NUMMI produced 5.4 million vehicles by the end of last year, when Toyota's annual sales in North America surpassed 2 million units for the first time. Toyota's sales of 2.07 million cars made it the world's second-largest automaker after GM in terns of global sales.
Toyota said in late January that its group sales, including those by subsidiaries Daihatsu Motor Co. and Hino Motors Ltd., totaled about 6.78 million vehicles in 2003. The figure means that Toyota leapfrogged Ford Motor Co., which sold 6.72 million. GM's 2003 sales came to 8.59 million vehicles.
The Japan Times.