Toyota Considering Cutting Production of the Prius

The Times is reporting Toyota is considering cutting back on production of the Prius by 10%. The Japanese production is looking at worldwide demand and trying to decide how the current climate is going to affect their sales.

A spokesman for Toyota said: “The outlook for Prius demand is uncertain."

This is despite the sky high demand in Japan, where the Prius is still the number one seller and probably will be for months. The waiting list is months long there, with the incentives on hybrids helping to push sales there.

There has also been a recent report indicating Tennessee is pushing to open the plant there to build the Prius in the US. If that happens, production in Japan would be used to focus on the demand in Japan.

If production was cut by 10% in Japan, Toyota would go from producing 50,000 Prius a month to 45,000. Toyota had increased production of the Prius to its current levels based on the pre-orders they received before the third generation Prius was released.