Toyota Motor Corp is now ready for mass production of the World's most popular hybrid car Prius outside Japan. It is in the process of setting up complete manufacturing facility in the country that will cater to demands from the Asian markets. Toyota's efforts are to further popularize hybrid vehicles worldwide, the company said in a statement.
"Consumer interest in the environment and new technologies has been growing in Thailand, and the introduction of the Prius here follows the start of Thai production and sales of the Camry Hybrid sedan in 2009," Toyota said in the statement.
The move means that the Toyota Prius hybrid will become cheaper in markets like Malaysia or even India. Toyota Motor Thailand is to begin production of the third-generation Prius hybrid soon, with the vehicle set for its soft launch on October 21 and its Thai market debut next month. The batteries and engine will be shipped in from Japan for Thai production.
Toyota did not disclose the number of hybrid Prius cars which will be manufactured at the Thai unit. But it is rumoured that the entire production of export vehicles will be shifted to Thailand unit in the wake of rising Yen. Toyota has set itself a hybrid vehicle sales target of 1 million units per year. The company wants to achieve this as early as possible in the 2010s.
