Toyota's Australian tech centre to close

The Toyota Japan-owned research and development centre in Melbourne that symbolised the brand’s ambitious growth plans for Australia in the 2000s will close by June 2016 with the loss of more than 100 highly-skilled engineering jobs.

Established in 2003 in high-tech facilities in the eastern Melbourne suburb of Notting Hill near Monash University, the Toyota Technical Centre Australia (or TTC-AU) is one of five such development facilities globally.

Its closure is the direct result of the end of Toyota’s local manufacturing at the Altona plant in 2017.

Toyota had forecasted a limited on-going role for TTC-AU when the closure of Altona was first announced last year, but that decision has changed with two out of four redundancy rounds at the centre already completed.

Ironically, the closure comes following the completion of the centre’s biggest ever job, performing a significant amount of the engineering work on the new HiLux utility and the Fortuner SUV derived from it.

TTC-AU president Max Gillard confirmed the closure to motoring.com.au at the Fortuner media launch overnight.

“It’ tough,” said the 40-year Toyota veteran, who was a key player in the centre’s establishment.

Out of the current 160 staff, 19 will be absorbed into Toyota Australia to concentrate on localisation work, focussing on vehicle evaluation, multimedia and customer quality engineering.

About 30 of staff will relocate to Toyota technical centres in the USA and Japan.

“The Fortuner and HiLux are the jewel in our crown because they are what the Australian customer needs and wants,” said Gillard, who will retire when the centre is closed.

“The Fortuner is the culmination of our efforts and it is something that everyone in TTC-AU is so proud of. We think it is what the customer wants and that’s why we are here, to produce what the customer wants, not what we want or whatever.

“I’ll be buying one next year, it will be my retirement vehicle.”

The closure of TTC-AU means Toyota is moving in the opposite direction to Ford, which is growing its engineering strength in Australia despite the closure of its manufacturing facilities in 2016.

Holden is taking something of a middle ground, retaining a significant design centre in Australia as well as some engineering strength and its Lang Lang proving ground.

Gillard said Toyota would retain its Anglesea test site, which would continue to be used by local engineers as well as visiting engineers developing vehicles.

“Toyota Motor Corporation now absolutely acknowledges that if a car is right for Australia it is absolutely right for all of the tough markets, whether that be South Africa, Argentina, Brazil or the Middle East,” he said.

“So that is an enduring legacy for TTC-AU.”

A small Melbourne-based design group, Toyota Style Australia, is expected to continue on.

Toyota Japan funded and integrated TTC-AU into its global engineering network after the successful development and introduction to Australian manufacturing of the Avalon large car in 2000, which was a project Gillard led.

While never a big seller, it proved the capability of Australian engineers and paved the way for the introduction of the Camry-based Aurion V6 large car which took on the established Holden Commodore and Ford Falcon in the large car market from 2006.

“For Australian engineering the Avalon was a turning point. It proved we could turn a reject car from the USA into a very, very good car for Australia.” Gillard said.

“People who owned an Avalon loved it.

“That was a really good project for us because it enabled us to know how to negotiate with Japan for a unique body.”