"Because the economy went sour, we had too much capacity and decided not to spend all the money - and to use our underutilized plant in Indiana," a Toyota spokesman was quoted as saying by just-auto.com.
"We have not decided what date for the Mississippi plant - we are waiting to see what global demand for the Prius will be."
Toyota already finished work at its new facility and with all the logistic support already in place (road and rail access), it has only one thing to take care of before production begins: hire workers.
Blue Springs, although producing nothing at the moment, has already managed to attract several businesses, mostly automotive suppliers who hope to snatch a contract with Toyota.
"There are around seven or eight new suppliers who have decided to locate in the area, but are on hold," the spokesman added.
Toyota has big plans in 2010 for its biggest market, including the launch of 10 new or revised models. One of the main focuses of Toyota will be reviving the Scion brand.
"Scion will get a huge shot in the arm with two new products that will rejuvenate the brand and bring additional younger buyers into the Toyota family," Yoshi Inaba, Toyota North America CEO said according to Reuters.
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