May 17, 2005
Toyota Motor Corp. will give the Prius a big brother in the hybrid version of its Camry sedan, the best-selling car in America.
Toyota is the worldwide leader in sales of hybrid gas-electric vehicles. The hybrid Camry will be built at the company's Georgetown, Ky., plant that already manufactures the Camry.
The car will be the company's first U.S.-built hybrid.
The Prius had U.S. sales of 53,991 last year. By comparison, the Camry had U.S. sales of 965,091.
Honda Motor Co. has hybrid versions of its Civic, a compact sedan, and the Accord, its mid-size sedan and the nation's No. 2 selling car model after the Camry.
Toyota just recently came out with its own hybrid versions of gas-only vehicles when it brought hybrid technology to two mid-size sport/utility vehicles for the first time. The hybrid Lexus RX 400h, the SUV for its luxury brand, went on sale in April, while a version of the lower-priced Toyota Highlander is set to go on sale in June.
Toyota does not plan to manufacture the hybrid powertrain in the U.S. for the Camry. The company will keep that technology in Japan and export completed units to the Georgetown, Ky. plant.
