Toyota's Old Kentucky Hybrid Home
Toyota Motor Corp. on Tuesday announced plans to begin producing a gasoline-electric hybrid version of its popular Camry model in late 2006 at its largest North American plant in Georgetown, Ky.
Meanwhile, company officials Tuesday said Toyota is investigating complaints about its hit hybrid Prius cars stalling.
The Japanese automaker said it will have capacity to build about 48,000 of the environmentally friendly Camry hybrids each year. It represents Toyota's first hybrid auto production in North America.
"Once the decision was reached to make a hybrid version of our best-selling vehicle — the Camry — the Georgetown plant was the natural choice," said Gary Convis, president of the plant.
Toyota said it plans a $10 million investment in the Georgetown plant, but said it expects capacity and employment to stay the same. The plant 12 miles north of Lexington employs about 7,000 workers and can build up to 500,000 vehicles per year.
Hybrid production will take place on the plant's existing lines, the automaker said. No new construction is planned. The $10 million will go mainly for equipment modifications and employee training.
Toyota said specific details about the Camry hybrid will be released later.
California and Canada also made a push to land Toyota's first North American hybrid production.
Kentucky Gov. Ernie Fletcher, who is on a trade mission to Japan, participated in Toyota's announcement by satellite.
"This is truly a great day for Kentucky," Fletcher said.
Toyota opened the Georgetown plant in 1987 and it sparked a boom in automotive suppliers in the state. Toyota President Fujio Cho ran the Georgetown plant for its first seven years.
The 7.5 million square foot plant produces the Camry, Avalon and Solara models. Toyota's North American headquarters is in Erlanger, which is in the northern Kentucky suburbs of Cincinnati.
Meanwhile, a few owners of the 2004 and 2005 Prius models are saying their cars stalled, Toyota Motor Sales U.S.A. Inc., the Japanese automaker's U.S. sales arm, said in a statement, without elaborating.
Hybrid vehicles deliver better mileage by switching between a gasoline engine and an electric motor. Toyota Motor Corp. leads in hybrid sales, with cumulative global sales of 381,500, and the Prius has become a popular seller in the United States.
Toyota, which learned of the stalling problem last Friday, is looking into issues including the number of complaints, technical issues and causes, the statement said.
More than 88,000 2004 and 2005 Prius cars have been sold in the United States, Toyota said. There has been no recall, and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has not opened an official investigation, the company said.
The reports of problems with the Prius are an embarrassment for Toyota at a time when the hybrid has become a status symbol favored by Hollywood movie stars and is a major success for Toyota, the world's No. 2 automaker.