Photo: Toyota
Toyota’s hybrid models might be big among A-listers and tree-huggers in America, but it’s in Japan that the Prius shins the brightest.
The automaker still sources batteries, inverters and motors for these models from Japan, where the vast majority of Prius units are put together, yet this could all change within the next four years, as drivetrain components will be make in the United States by then.
“Right now, hybrid component production is too biased toward Japan,” Shinichi Sasaki, Toyota’s executive vice president in charge of global purchasing, told Automotive News. “We have to devise a tactic roughly within a year that can be reflected in our next-generation procurement policy. That means this may be implemented in three or four years’ time.”
Back in 2009, Toyota stopped making the Prius in China from kits, but will restart production there at some point as well.
“Right now, hybrid component production is too biased toward Japan,” Shinichi Sasaki, Toyota’s executive vice president in charge of global purchasing, told Automotive News. “We have to devise a tactic roughly within a year that can be reflected in our next-generation procurement policy. That means this may be implemented in three or four years’ time.”
Back in 2009, Toyota stopped making the Prius in China from kits, but will restart production there at some point as well.
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