Toyota Motor Company Hybrids - Made In The USA?

TOKYO Sept. 29, 2004 Osamu Tsukimori writing for CBS MarketWatch.com reported that Toyota Motor Corp. is considering production of hybrid cars bigger than its popular Prius in the United States, the automaker said Wednesday.

Because of a greater need for bigger cars in North America, Toyota is trying to select the optimal hybrid car including Prius to produce in that market, the automaker said.

But Toyota is not considering building a new auto plant in the United States, its spokesman said.

Under its guiding principle of enhancing local production worldwide, Toyota is said to be considering production of hybrid cars in North America, including the Lexus RX400 sport-utility vehicle and the Camry midsize passenger car, Kyodo News reported.

Toyota announced in mid-September that it and China FAW Group will jointly produce Prius gasoline-electric hybrid vehicles in China next year, marking the fist overseas production of Prius outside Japan.