Toyota Building the Corolla in Mississippi, not the Prius

Toyota has restarted their plant construction in Blue Springs, Mississippi, in another indication the recent recall hasn't ruined their business. If they're willing to expand production, they must be planning on selling those extra cars.

Which is good news for the 2,000 people Toyota plans on hiring in Mississippi. But, unfortunately for those of us who are interested in hybrids, Toyota will be building the Corolla instead of the Prius.

As of now, every Prius sold in the states is built in Japan. Which means the sales rush there (the Prius is the no 1 selling car in Japan for 12 months and counting) is affecting the number of Prius they can sell, or export here. That keeps the supply and demand pretty tight here in the states.

So even with all the bad news surrounding Toyota if you're buying a Prius don't expect a deal to suddenly be offered.

Toyota says the decision to start building the Corolla in Mississippi allows them to open the plant sooner, rather than waiting for the demand to pick up on the Prius. The building itself is 'essentially complete' with just the installation of equipment to finish it off.