Toyota’s Australian outfit announced earlier today that it will stop manufacturing cars Down Under by the end of 2017 – and become a sales and distribution company for the country.
This after announcements made last year by Ford and General Motors that their own production plans will be halted in Australia in the next few years. According to a statement released to the press, the decision was not based on a single factor but included market and economic factors like the weak Australian dollar negatively affecting imports and high costs of manufacturing and low economies of scale for local vehicle production and local supplier base – all of which make it not viable to continue manufacturing cars in Australia.
This means that Australian production of the Camry, its Hybrid variant and the Aurion, as well as engine production, will come to an end.
“This is devastating news for all of our employees who have dedicated their lives to the company during the past 50 years,” said Toyota Australia president and CEO, Max Yasuda.
“We did everything that we could to transform our business, but the reality is that there are too many factors beyond our control that make it unviable to build cars in Australia. Although the company has made profits in the past, our manufacturing operations have continued to be loss making despite our best efforts,” said Yasuda, who was joined by Toyota Motor Corporation president and CEO, Akio Toyoda.
“Our focus will now be to work with our employees, suppliers, government and the unions as we transition to a national sales and distribution company. Support services will be available to our employees and we will do everything that we can to minimise the impact of this decision on our employees and suppliers,” Yasuda added.
While this announcement doesn’t mean that Toyota will cease to exist in Australia altogether, approximately 2 500 employees will be directly affected when production comes to an end – with further jobs at stake within the company’s corporate divisions. All the vehicles currently available down under will therefore be imported from 2018.