GEORGETOWN, Ky. - Toyota Motor Corp. planned a news conference Tuesday at its Kentucky auto plant, amid reports that the company plans to begin building a gasoline-electric hybrid version of the Camry here. Citing unnamed company executives, the Wall Street Journal reported Monday that Toyota planned to shift production of its hybrids to North America, but planned only to discuss the Camry model on Tuesday. Responding to the Wall Street Journal report, Toyota spokesman Paul Nolasco in Tokyo said Tuesday that shifting hybrid production entirely to North America wasn't "anywhere in the cards." Georgetown plant spokesman Rick Hesterberg declined to comment on the reports. The Georgetown plant now assembles the Camry, Avalon and Solara models. Besides the Camry hybrid, the company also is considering the possibility of producing the Prius hybrid or a hybrid version of the small Corolla sedan in North America, the newspaper reported. Last week, a Japanese news agency reported that Toyota would produce a gasoline-electric hybrid based on its Camry passenger car in Kentucky. Officials at Toyota's North American headquarters could not confirm that report last week. The Toyota plant in Georgetown opened in 1987 and is the company's largest American facility. Gov. Ernie Fletcher left Saturday on a trade mission to Japan. On Monday, Fletcher was in Aichi, Japan, helping to launch "Kentucky Week" at the 2005 World Expo. Fletcher's office said Monday night that Fletcher would participate in the news conference via satellite. The company scheduled simultaneous news conferences in Georgetown and Washington, D.C., as well as a Webcast. Gene Strong, the state's economic development secretary, said last week the timing of Fletcher's trip could be helpful as Kentucky courts the Toyota hybrid. It was Toyota's decision to build its Georgetown plant a generation ago that made Kentucky a boom state in the automobile assembly and supply business. Toyota President Fujio Cho ran the Georgetown plant for seven years after it opened. Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
