Toyota reported to hike up Prius production by 70%

Prius hybrid vehicle goes on sale next year, Japan’s biggest and the world’s second largest automaker will up its production numbers by 70 percent, up to a minimum of 480,000, today’s reports say. Toyota will achieve the significant production hike by moving assembly of the Wish minivan, which is produced alongside the current Prius at the company’s Tsutsumi plant, to another factory in April, says an Automotive News report. The industry publication cites Japan’s Nikkan Kogyo daily for the information. The recent high gas prices in North America made the Prius in higher demand than usual, with paying customers having to wait months to get their green cars. In 2007, Toyota sold 281,300 Priuses, all it could make. The automaker also said earlier it would produce the Prius in a Mississippi plant in the not-too-distant future.... [read full story]