Toyota’s new plan to build the Prius hybrid sedan in eastern Mississippi has Alabama’s economic developers hoping for a larger slice of the pie when it comes to supplier business tied to the fuel-sipping vehicle.

Communities along the future Interstate 22 in western Alabama already have been prepping industrial sites in an effort to lure suppliers for the assembly plant the Japanese automaker is building near Tupelo.

Toyota recently said it will build the Prius in Mississippi instead of the Highlander sport utility, a reflection of consumers’ growing desire for smaller, fuel-efficient vehicles in an industry rocked by high gas prices.
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“I think it will enhance our opportunities for suppliers,” said Bill West, mayor of the Marion County town of Winfield, noting the additional technology and parts associated with a hybrid vehicle. “It seems like you would need more suppliers in the future.”

There also is hope that existing suppliers will benefit, said Neal Wade, director of the Alabama Development Office.

He would like to see Toyota’s Huntsville engine plant get business tied to the Prius. Such a scenario would be a stabilizing factor for the 900-worker facility, which now builds engines for Toyota trucks and sport utilities and is scaling back production amid declining demand for those vehicles.

But Wade added that it’s still not clear how the Mississippi plant’s supplier network will be affected by the model change. Economic developers are staying in touch with Toyota contacts and planning to travel to Japan this fall to meet with suppliers.

“We’re keyed toward making sure by then we have appointments set with the right companies,” Wade said.

`All kinds of opportunities’:

Toyota now builds the Prius in Japan and China, and its 4-cylinder engines are made in Japan. Battery production has always been an issue in being able to build more Priuses, and that capacity is being boosted in Japan, said Toyota spokesman Mike Goss.

As for changes in the Mississippi plant supplier network, Goss said Toyota is committed to working with the seven or eight companies that already have said they’re moving into the area to support the facility.

Aside from that, existing Prius suppliers will make decisions about whether they need to move closer to the plant, and Toyota is still evaluating whether it will build the vehicle’s engines or batteries in North America, he said.

“Bringing the Prius to the U.S. gives us all kinds of opportunities. We just don’t have it all figured out yet,” Goss said.
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Asked whether the Huntsville plant, which now builds V-6 and V-8 engines for Tundra and Tacoma pickups and Sequoia sport utilities, would be capable of building Prius engines, Goss said any facility is capable of doing anything with the right investment. But he added that Toyota is optimistic about long-term truck sales, particularly for the Tundra, which saw its sales rise 58 percent in 2007 over the previous year.

“We think once things stabilize in the future and the economy improves and gas prices hopefully go down, the truck buyers will return…We don’t want to make a knee-jerk decision about that Huntsville engine plant and regret it later,” Goss said.

Meanwhile, Toyota is studying ways to maximize capacity in Huntsville, he said.

“That’s an outstanding engine plant there with a great work force, and we’re certainly not going to abandon that or squander that,” he said.

Getting ready to work:

Back in western Alabama, industrial sites are being readied with access roads and utilities, in hopes that the future I-22 connecting Birmingham and Memphis will be a draw for new projects. One such site that sits along the corridor in Winfield recently received AdvantageSite designation, which means that it meets certain size, zoning, accessibility, environmental and infrastructure requirements.

“We’re looking forward to developing that park with Toyota or anyone else that wants to provide good jobs for Winfield,” said West, the town’s mayor.