Jalopnik: mississippi

Toyota To Halt Mississippi Plant, Plans For US Prius Production

Matt Hardigree — Mon, 15 Dec 2008 14:00:00 EST

The Carpocalypse comes to the South as the Wall Street Journal reports Toyota plans to delay production of its new plant outside Tupelo, Mississippi.

Toyota's plans to start production at a new plant it is building in Blue Springs, Mississippi have been altered by a steep decline in the sales of new cars and trucks (sales down 32% in November). The company will continue to finish construction of the building but will hold off on installing equipment at the plant, which was supposed to build the Toyota Prius.

This is an interesting development in a regional / political ~~Civil War~~ conflict pitting anti-union Republicans from southern states and their foreign automaker allies against Democrats in the north and their domestic automaker / union supporters. According to the NY Daily News, right-to-work states have given over $3 billion in subsidies and tax incentives to foreign-owned car companies since 1992.

Most importantly for southern Senators, Toyota has claimed it will cut no jobs at the plant but will merely delay production. Just to clarify here — southern Senators believe loaning the not-so-Big Three money so they can pay to put people to work building the next generation of fuel efficient American cars is bad. Giving Toyota and others free money to pay people not to work building Japanese cars is good.

We wonder if those Toyota employees in Missisippi will start Vandalizing Escapes.

[Wall Street Journal]

Toyota To Halt Expansion Of US Assembly Plants, Increase Sales Of Japan-Built Vehicles?

Ray Wert — Wed, 20 Jun 2007 10:30:00 EDT

In Japan, Toyota has plants clustered together, with a capability of building more than a half-dozen different vehicles on each line, and their most efficient plants around the world are capable of operating more than one assembly line each. But here in the United States, Toyota plants build just one or two models and are spread out all over the place. Why are they running so inefficiently stateside? Today the Wall Street Journal answers that question and the answer is something we've long believed to be Toyota's modus operandi. It appears, according to the Murdoch-targeted paper, the super-awesome number-one best automaker from the land of the rising sun's been building assembly plants in key geographic areas for maximizing political gains. That would make sense given the Toyota Production System's fanatical focus on efficiency would argue having inefficient plants geographically spread all over the place is an anathema. But that's not all they're reporting. The Journal also...

...claims ToMoCo is cutting plans on any further expansion once they get Haley Barbour's already scaled back plant operational in Tupelo, Mississippi. Among many reasons is that the Yen's doing much better now against the US greenback, so it makes sense to build more vehicles in Japan and ship them over to sell here. That includes vehicles like the Yaris which Toyota had looked at assembling in Mexico — instead, they're now thinking of continuing to make the little gas-sipper in Japan and shipping it across the pond. We don't yet know what this mean for Toyota continuing to market themselves as sort-of a US automaker, but our bet is it's got the potential to change the dynamic. Whether or not it will do so remains to be seen. – Ray Wert

Toyota's New U.S. Plan: Stop Building Factories (sub. req.) [Wall Street Journal]

Caption This Photo: Governor Haley Barbour Digs Halfway To Memphis In The Mississippi Mud

Ray Wert — Fri, 20 Apr 2007 12:15:09 EDT

Here's the actual tagline for the above photo:

"Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour ,second from left, and Toyota Motor Corp. President Katsuaki Watanabe, third from left, join other dignitaries for the ground-breaking ceremony of a new assembly plant in Blue Springs, Miss., Wednesday morning, April 18, 2007. (AP Photo/Ryan Moore)"

But with the look on Barber's punim positively screaming — umm — something, we're totally thinking y'all can come up with something a bit more insightful. So please, feel free to take a gander and then put fingers to keyboard to help us provide a more appropriate caption of this picture of Barber and Ken and the gang from the groundbreaking of the new ToMoCo assembly plant in Mississippi. – Ray Wert

Waterlogged Cars Big in 'Bama

Davey G. Johnson — Fri, 02 Feb 2007 22:30:00 EST

Waterlogged cars are hitting sales records in Alabama. Cars that suffered through Katrina and Rita are being passed off by shady types and snapped up by the masses. According to Carfax, the sales of formerly-waterlogged vehicles are up 374 percent, although to be fair, 'Bama comes in second to Mississippi in the percentage race; 633 was the number in Ole Miss. What're they doing down there? Using automobiles as a substitute for Bounty? – Davey G. Johnson

Alabama ranks high in waterlogged cars [Montgomery Advertiser]

Out of the Mouths of Babes: Kids on Cars

Davey G. Johnson — Wed, 20 Dec 2006 18:00:00 EST

When we were but a small Jalop, our teacher got our 6th-grade class involved in a local paper's "Design-an-Ad" contest. We ended up with a local dairy, and somehow figured out a way to work a Countach into the ad. Because, you know, every dairy needs a Countach. But this is somewhat more hilarious. These poor children from around Biloxi, MS think that Honda Elements are aerodynamic, Murcielagos go 300mph, and that putting a "Camero" motor in a Viper would be a good idea. Then again, the Countach we drew in that ad was festooned with all of the strakes and crap. So maybe there's hope for them yet. – Davey G. Johnson

Lamborghini leads the list of children's favorite cars [Sun Herald]

Related:
Let's Party While the Children Starve! [Internal]

McDonald's Owner Runs Cars on Grease

Davey G. Johnson — Tue, 14 Mar 2006 18:57:55 EST

Man, here's a dichotomy. A Mississippi man who owns four McDonald's franchises has converted his Ford pickup and his VW Beetle to run on excess grease from his stores; the four locations dispose of 10,000 gallons a year, giving him basically unlimited supply of food. According to him, it's about environmental sustainability and independence from foreign oil, yet ironically, dude owns four McDonald's franchises; rainforests are being clearcut for land to raise cattle to satiate the world's appetite for meat, and all those cows release volatile organic compounds out their bums, which leads to air-quality problems like we see in the Southern San Joaquin Valley. That said, we're a vegetarian and our car has a V-8. We'll shut up now.

Fry fuel: McDonald s franchisee runs cars on it [MSNBC]

Kia to Pick US Plant Site in 2006

Mike Spinelli — Thu, 08 Sep 2005 17:55:02 EDT

According to The Car Connection, Hyundai's Kia Motors will decide on a site for its first US-based plant by next year. While Mississippi is on the really short list of locations, we're guessing the state will likely be a shoo-in, considering ol' Miss needs all the new industry it can get its hands on to help the state's recovery from the recent destruction of its hugely profitable casino businesses. Still, the Montgomery, Alabama area — where Hyundai's US plant resides — is still a wildcard.

Kia's Head's in Mississippi: New Plant in Meridian?

Davey G. Johnson — Mon, 22 Aug 2005 10:59:32 EDT

Thanks to parent Hyundai's new Montgomery, Alabama plant, Kia's mulling over its own factory in the South, this one in Meridian, MS. Due to its proximity to Montgomery, available acreage, and some glad-handing by Mississippi governor Haley Barbour, as well as the installed supplier base in the area due to the numerous other southern auto plants, Kia thinks Meridian might be a good fit. However, it ain't over 'til the Pontiac Aztek sings, and other southern states, including Louisiana and 'Bama are hoping for a slice of Kia's pie.

Kia Considers Mississippi [Detroit Free Press]

Related:
Spy Photos: 2007 Kia Magentis/Optima [Internal]

Nissan Minivans on a Quest to China

Mike Spinelli — Sat, 30 Jul 2005 10:23:39 EDT

The first Nissan Quest minivans bound for China left their home in Mississippi yesterday, like a fleet of bluesmen looking for the world's most raucous juke joint. Nissan is hoping the quirky Quest, which hasn't been a favorite among US buyers, will appeal to the Chinese market, expected to total 100 million new buyers over the next decade, according to The Detroit News. Nissan has altered the China-bound Quests for specific needs of the market, including beefing up some structural parts — windshield pillars for example — to handle rough roadways, and added fog and fender lights to meet safety standards.

Nissan Minivans Heading from Mississippi to China [The Detroit News]