Toyota Motor Corp. is shelving its plans to build the popular Prius hybrid in Mississippi as the slump in the auto industry continues to hobble the Japanese carmaker known for it emphasis on fuel-sipping vehicles.

Toyota’s plant under construction in Blue Springs, Miss., was scheduled to begin production in 2010, marking the first time the gas-electric Prius, which has been on sale for more than a decade, would be built outside of Japan and China.

But Mike Goss, a spokesman for Toyota’s U.S. arm, said Monday that despite investing $300 million in the plant so far, the automaker is delaying production there indefinitely because of the industrywide downturn.

Construction of the plant is about 90 percent complete, and Toyota will finish the building, Goss said. However, the installation of the factory’s equipment and machinery — “the most time-consuming” element of construction, he said — is delayed indefinitely.

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Tags: delay, prius

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