Despite a sluggish SUV market, Toyota will start U.S. production of the Highlander six months early in order to keep its Indiana workers busy. Toyota originally planned to begin building the Highlander at its new factory under construction near Tupelo, Miss., in late 2009 or early 2010. But when rising gas prices squashed demand for SUVs, Toyota pushed back the timetable to May 2010.
Considering the Highlander is due for a major refresh in 2010, the move also saved Toyota from having to retool the Tupelo factory less than a year after its opening.
But now that Toyota has decided to build the Highlander at its Princeton, Ind., factory, start of production is back to fall of 2009. The Tupelo factory will produce the Prius hybrid instead, beginning in fall 2010.
"We need to get those people working. That's the bottom line," said Steve St. Angelo, senior vice president of Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing North America Inc.