• Forbes, MSNBC/AP, Detroit Free-Press , Tuesday, December 16, 2008 11 AM

Toyota says it will indefinitely put on hold its plans to begin making the hybrid Prius in a newly built plant in Blue Springs, Miss. Production was slated to start in 2010, Tina Wang reports. The facility was 90% completed but lacked machinery and equipment.

"With the U.S. auto market having collapsed, at this point it doesn't make sense to have the plant at all. Not even hybrids are selling well," says Tokyo-based analyst Christopher Richter for CLSA.

The AP reports that Detroit's woes "don't give Japan's automakers joy," according to an MSNBC headline on the story. Japanese carmakers in the U.S. share many of the same parts suppliers. More broadly, the U.S. crisis could lead to huge job losses and further weaken consumer spending.

"Whether it is the impact on consumer confidence or the impact on the suppliers that we all share, having one or more of the major automakers in severe distress has consequences for the entire industry," says Simon Sproule, corporate vp of global communications at Nissan.

Meanwhile, the Detroit Free-Press tells us "Auto Industry Rescue On Hold As Bush Looks At The Data."

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