Toyota

Toyota has plans to start production of the next-generation Prius and it has plans to produce it with even more factory space then usual. It will be built with better fuel efficiency and they have plans to produce 480,000 units per year.

The Japan-based Tsutsumi factory, which currently builds five different vehicles, will stop making the JDM Wish minivan to allow for more Priuses. Even more Prius capacity will be available beginning in 2010, when the Japanese automaker’s new Mississippi plant comes online and begins to produce more of the hybrid.

Toyota announced this week that they will be cancelling the Avalon and the Lexus SC 430. Sales for the entry-level Avalon luxury sedan and the Lexus SC have slowed almost to a stand still. Neither models have been able to fit into a particular niche.

The Lexus was unable to compete well as a luxury level car and keep up with the competition that automakers like Porsche and Jaguar boasted. Through the first six months of this year, Lexus sold only 1,230 SC’s, down 40% from last year.

Toyota has plans for the 2010 Toyota Prius hybrid. They are taking the technology used for cars one step further and bringing the green name to the forefront by adding solar panels to the roof of the car.

The point of this is to increase the car’s electric motor - but whether or not this will actually work is something that many people are speculating about. We couldn’t see it being enough power to operate the car’s engine - but maybe the radio or air conditioning.