Toyota to Build Hybrid Camrys in Kentucky

Advanced Battery Technology, Jul 2005

Toyota Motor will begin producing a hybrid version of its popular Camry mid-sized sedan at a plant in Kentucky in late 2006. It will be the Japanese automaker's fifth gasoline-electric vehicle.

"The continued success of Prius has demonstrated consumers' growing demand for hybrid vehicles," said Jim Press, executive vice president and chief operating officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA.

Nationwide registrations for new hybrid vehicles rose to 83,153 in 2004 - an 81 % increase from 2003 according to RL Polk and Co.

Toyota has not yet announced when the Camry hybrid will hit the market and a spokesman said it is too early to release specific details about the new vehicle.

The Kentucky plant was established in 1986 and is Toyota's largest plant in North America. It employs approximately 7,000 people and currently builds the Camry, Avalon and Solara. Toyota said a $ 10 million investment in the plant's capacity will allow it to build approximately 48,000 Camry hybrid vehicles per year.