Toyota Australia

History

TMCA first began in 1958 where Toyota Land Cruisers were imported by Thiess Toyota for the Snowy Mountains Hydro-electric scheme. By 1963, assembly of Toyota vehicles in Australia by Australian Motor Industries (AMI) had begun, taking place at the production plant in Port Melbourne, Victoria. The production line of Toyota vehicles in 1963 was devoted to the Toyota Tiara. One of the leading forces of getting Toyota established in Australia was Kennath Hougham.

In 1972 Toyota bought out British Leyland's interest in AMI and announced plans to spend A$27 million on an engine and gearbox plant.

A production plant in Altona, Victoria, was established and began the production of engines in 1978, following the progressive growth of AMI. After Toyota's products came in for heavy criticism regarding their handling, a handling package developed specifically for the Australian market was introduced in 1981.

The first AMI exported car was a Toyota Corona wagon in 1986 headed for New Zealand.

The one-millionth locally built Toyota was produced in 1992.

In 1994, all vehicle manufacturing operations were moved from Port Melbourne to Altona. The last vehicle produced at the Port Melbourne plant was a Toyota Camry and the first vehicle produced at the Altona plant a Toyota Corolla. Port Melbourne continued performing minor operations for TMCA.

The two-millionth locally built Toyota was produced in 2004.

In 2005, the ten-millionth worldwide Camry was built at TMCA's Altona plant.

The complete closure and end of all Toyota production operations at the Port Melbourne plant took place in May 2006. All manufacturing was shifted to Altona.

The milestone of the 500,000th TMCA vehicle export also occurred in May 2006. The vehicle was a Toyota Camry, headed for New Zealand.

Throughout TMCA's history, many Toyota vehicles have been built at either Altona or Port Melbourne, including the Toyota Tiara, the Toyota Corona, the Toyota Crown, the Toyota Corolla, the Toyota Camry and the Toyota Avalon. The Toyota Land Cruiser was never built in Australia.

As of 2006, TMCA's Altona plant in Victoria produces the Camry. Production of the Avalon has ceased, due for replacement on the manufacturing line by the Toyota Aurion, which shares many components with the Camry. TMCA had expressed interests in locally building the Toyota Kluger 4WD at Altona in the future.

TMCA started to build the new Camry Hybrid in 2010 after securing a $35 million subsidy from the Federal Government. The first locally-made Australian Toyota Hybrid Camry was completed and revealed to public on 11 December 2009, driven by the then prime minister Kevin Rudd.

On 10 February 2014, it was announced that by the end of 2017, Toyota would cease manufacturing vehicles and engines in Australia. The decision was based on the unfavourable Australian dollar making exports not viable, the high cost of local manufacture and the high amount of competition in a relatively small local market. The company plans to consolidate its corporate functions in Melbourne by the end of 2017. The head office will remain in Port Melbourne and the Altona plant will be retained for other functions. The workforce is expected to be reduced from 3,900 to 1,300.

Employees

As of 31 March 2015 it had 3,982 employees including 79 contractors located across the country. The majority of its employees are based at the manufacturing plant in Altona, Victoria. 15 per cent of its employees are female and 85 are male.

The decision to stop manufacturing in Australia by the end of 2017 has had and will continue to have a significant impact on Toyota Australia's employees. After it stops manufacturing by the end of 2017, Toyota expects its workforce will reduce from around 3,900 people to approximately 1,300. This will include the loss of both manufacturing and corporate jobs as well as the creation of some new roles.

Manufacturing

Toyota built cars in Victoria, Australia between 1963-2017.

It currently builds three models—Camry, Camry Hybrid and Aurion—for domestic and export customers. The fully integrated Altona manufacturing plant incorporates state-of-the-art weld, paint and assembly shops to produce cars that have been independently recognised as Australia's best quality locally built vehicles.

in February 2014, Toyota Australia announced its decision to close its manufacturing plant by the end of 2017 and become a national sales and distribution company.

Toyota vehicles built in Australia:

Altona plant

The Altona plant is the Toyota Australia manufacturing facility that operates in the Melbourne suburb of Altona. It opened in 1994, replacing the previous Port Melbourne site, but is scheduled to close in 2017. The plant produces the Camry and Aurion for sale locally in Australasia and for export to the Middle East. Until the early 2000s, export to East and Southeast Asia also occurred. The plant also manufactured the Avalon between 2000 and 2005.

In December 2009, full-scale production of the new Australian Camry Hybrid commenced. On 11 December 2009, manufacture of the first locally-made Camry Hybrid was completed and revealed to the public, writing a new page in the history of the Australian automotive industry.

In April 2012, Toyota forcibly retrenched 350 workers. Toyota received criticism for the manner in which the process was carried out; for example, deploying security guards to escort sacked staff.

The plant is scheduled to close at the end of 2017, marking the end of automobile manufacturing in Australia.

Sales

Toyota Australia currently holds the largest market share of Australia's new car market.

Above figures exclude Lexus sales.

Current lineup

As of October 2016, TMCA offers a large range of motor vehicles in Australia for private and fleet buyers.

Passenger models

SUV models

Commercial models

Motorsport

In March 2015, Toyota Australia announced an affordable, grassroots motorsport series based on the country's best-selling sports car, the Toyota 86 coupe, to be raced exclusively at V8 Supercars events. The series will start in 2016 and will be run as a pro-am with up to five selected professional drivers who will mentor and compete against a larger field of amateur drivers who will qualify to get onto the starting grid. The Toyota 86 Pro-Am race series, under the official banner of Toyota Racing Australia, will be staged at selected V8 Supercars events and will be sanctioned by the Confederation of Australian Motor Sport.

Supporting facilities

Toyota Technical Centre Australia (TTC-AU). Formed in June 2003 in Notting Hill, Victoria to do Body Engineering; Chassis, Mechanical Engineering & Evaluation; Customer Quality Engineering; Electronics Engineering; and Support.

Sponsorship

Toyota Australia supports a wide range of Australian activities through its community sponsorship and promotions program. These include the Australian Football League, where it has been the premier partner since 2004, as well as Cricket Australia, the Australian Paralympic Committee, cycling, triathlon, surfing and snow sports. It is also a key partner of the Tamworth Country Music Festival, in addition to being the major sponsor of Planet Ark's National Tree Day.