Toyota’s Australian manufacturing shutdown on track

Toyota Australia has re-committed to it plan to cease manufacturing cars in Australia by 2017.

Speaking with motoring.com.au at the announcement of the HiLux as Australia’s best-selling new model for 2016, Toyota Australia executive director Tony Cramb said that the shutdown of its Altona manufacturing facility and respective suppliers was on track for the fourth quarter of 2017.

“It’s one thing to come up with a plan, and it’s another thing to execute it – but I’m happy to report that the execution is on track,” he said.

“The respective closure of our suppliers and our employees -- for everybody, all the stakeholders involved -- is currently on track.”

Toyota will follow Holden and Ford as the third manufacturer to cease its Australian operations in the space of 18 months, essentially sounding the death knell for the local industry on a bulk scale.

Cramb said that provisions were in place to enable a seamless transition to Toyota becoming a full-line importer from 2018.

“In terms of the way the closure will take place, whatever the closure date is, the majority of people will go at that time,” he said.

“Clearly there will be people that will leave after that, because we’ll have to de-commission the plant and get it ready for its future uses.

“There’ll be a group of people that will stay on, and many of the people that work in manufacturing will take up roles in the sales and distribution side of the business.”

Cramb said plans were also on track for Toyota to de-commission its Caringbah plant, south of Sydney. The site is expected to be sold off some time in 2019 and has already attracted more than 60 prospective buyers.

The massive parcel of land is considered prime real estate, located barely 1km from Cronulla beach.