Toyota To Bring New Highlander To Market 6 Months Early

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.
 

bigmotov - 8/12/2008 10:24:17 AM

+10 Boost

Didn't the new Highlander come out last year? Is this an error and it's suppose to be the new Venza?

mscottc1 - 8/12/2008 10:25:23 AM

+7 Boost

Am I the only one puzzled by these statements? Didn't Toyota just come out with an "all-new" Highlander less than a year ago?

mscottc1 - 8/12/2008 10:27:42 AM

+6 Boost

oops- I'm too slow....

NItePhire - 8/12/2008 10:53:38 AM

+4 Boost

The Camry will be due for an update in 2010 so maybe they are just getting ahead start.

Whelan - 8/12/2008 1:01:04 PM

+1 Boost

I'm lost as well. The new Highlander came out not even a year ago. And personally I don't like it.

The last Highlander was a good size for a small SUV. They pumped it up to almost the size of a 4Runner. All because they made the new Rav 4 the size of the old Highlander. So now what do they have to fit the smaller SUV segment? Maybe they can move the 4 Runner downstream to a little SUV.

PlanB - 8/12/2008 2:44:09 PM

+2 Boost

I was thinking this was a typo too. The Highlander is still "new" and the only other model I could think of also was the Venza.

CTS24 - 8/12/2008 3:07:27 PM

+3 Boost

The Article headline should be "Toyota to start building Highlander in U.S. six months early."

ktu01 - 8/13/2008 3:00:35 AM

+2 Boost

I thought Highlanders were already built in the US? It's only the Highlander Hybrid that's imported from Japan, no?

saintdiablosaint - 8/16/2008 12:56:02 AM

+1 Boost

aaah yes
hybrid
that makes sense to push that 6 months sooner
a normal suv being brought to market earlier would seem counterintuitive, but the hybrid makes sense