Company type | Subsidiary |
---|---|
Industry | Automotive |
Founded | 1958 |
Headquarters | Port Melbourne, Victoria, Australia |
Key people |
|
Parent | Toyota |
Website | www |
Toyota Australia is an Australian subsidiary of the Japanese car manufacturer Toyota. It markets Toyota products and manages motorsport, advertising and business operations for Toyota in Australia. It is also responsible for Lexus vehicles in Australia.
Toyota Australia is based in Port Melbourne, with offices in Adelaide, Perth, Sydney, Brisbane, Townsville and Darwin. [1]
Toyota Australia manufactured cars in Australia from 1963 until 2017.
Toyota Australia commenced operations in 1959, when Toyota Land Cruisers were imported by Thiess Toyota, a 60/40 joint venture between Thiess and Toyota, for the Snowy Mountains Scheme. [2] [3] [4] By 1963, assembly of Toyota vehicles in Australia by Australian Motor Industries (AMI) had begun, taking place at the production plant in Port Melbourne. The production line of Toyota vehicles in 1963 was devoted to the Toyota Tiara.
In 1972 Toyota bought out British Leyland's interest in AMI [5] and announced plans to spend $127 million on an engine and gearbox plant. [5]
A production plant in Altona, was established and began the production of engines in 1978, following the progressive growth of AMI. In 1980, Toyota exercised an option to buy Thiess' share of Thiess Toyota. [6] [7] 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. [8] The first AMI exported car was a Toyota Corona wagon in 1986 headed for New Zealand. [9]
In 1983, Toyota Australia launched an Australian version of the jingle "Oh, what a feeling", which had been used in the US before; it is still used today. [10]
In 1987, under the leadership of Robert Johnston, Toyota Australia and Holden formed United Australian Automobile Industries in response to the Button car plan. This resulted in Toyota Australia building Holden Apollo and Holden Novas at Altona that were badge engineered Camrys and Corollas. In exchange Holden built Toyota Lexcen which was a rebadged Commodore.
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.
The two-millionth locally built Toyota was produced in 2004. In 2005, the ten-millionth worldwide Camry was built at Altona. 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 Toyota Australia vehicle export also occurred in May 2006. The vehicle was a Toyota Camry, headed for New Zealand. The one-millionth export was reached in August 2012. [9]
Many Toyota vehicles have been built at either Altona or Port Melbourne, including the Tiara, Corona, Crown, Corolla, Camry and Avalon. The Toyota Land Cruiser was never built in Australia.
As of 2006, Altona produced 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. Production of the Camry Hybrid began in 2010 after a $35 million subsidy was secured from the Federal Government. [11] The first locally-made Australian Toyota Hybrid Camry was completed and revealed to public on 11 December 2009, driven by Prime Minister Kevin Rudd.
In February 2014, it was announced Toyota would cease manufacturing vehicles and engines in Australia by the end of 2017. [12] [13] [14] 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. [14] The company consolidated its corporate functions in Melbourne at the end of 2017 when its Sales & Marketing operation relocated from Woolooware Bay, Sydney. Head office (CHQ) remained in Port Melbourne and the Altona plant was retained for other functions including a Centre of Excellence and vehicle proving facility known as the Autodrome. The workforce was expected to be reduced from 3,900 to 1,300. [15]
Toyota built cars in Victoria, Australia between 1963 and 2017.
The Altona factory would build three models—Camry, Camry Hybrid and Aurion—for domestic and export customers.[ citation needed ]
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:
The Altona plant was the Toyota Australia manufacturing facility that operated in the Melbourne suburb of Altona. It opened in 1994, replacing the previous Port Melbourne site, but closed in 2017. The plant produced the Camry and Aurion for sale locally in Australasia and for export to the Middle East, as well as the Corolla until the switch to the fully imported 8th Generation. 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. [16] 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 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. [17]
The plant closed on 3 October 2017, marking the end of Toyota's automobile manufacturing in Australia. [18]
In March 2019, Toyota announced plans to build a Hydrogen Centre at Altona partly funded by the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) with existing infrastructure to be repurposed. [19] [20] The Hydrogen Centre was commissioned on 29 March 2021 and incorporates a commercial-grade hydrogen production, storage and refuelling facility together with an education centre and a service facility for a Toyota Mirai fuel cell electric vehicle (FCEV) demonstration fleet. [21] [22] The facility has the capacity to produce up to 80kg of hydrogen per day by electrolysis of water with a 200kW electrolyser using electricity from a 87kW solar panel, a 100kW battery storage or from the power grid. [21] [22] The hydrogen refuelling station will be the first to be made available to the public in Victoria. [20] The Centre also has a 30kW fuel cell to convert the stored hydrogen into electricity for backup power and to feed into the mains grid. [20] [22] The education centre had earlier been completed in April 2020. [23]
The centre will support the newly imported second generation Toyota Mirai released in Australia in April 2021 with an initial allocation of 20 vehicles for organizations and business. [21] [22] Toyota previously imported 10 first generation Mirai that were used in a loan program between 2018 and 2019 with a portable refuelling station developed in 2016 that was transportable on a Hino 700 truck to refuel the Mirai. [22] [24] [25]
Toyota Australia has held the largest market share of Australia's new car market for eighteen consecutive years from 2003 to 2020.
Year | Units sold | Sales rank | Reference |
---|---|---|---|
2003 | 186,370 | 1 | [26] |
2004 | 201,737 | 1 | [27] |
2005 | 202,817 | 1 | [28] |
2006 | 213,847 | 1 | [29] |
2007 | 236,647 | 1 | |
2008 | 238,983 | 1 | [ citation needed ] |
2009 | 200,991 | 1 | [30] |
2010 | 214,718 | 1 | [31] |
2011 | 181,624 | 1 | |
2012 | 218,176 | 1 | [32] |
2013 | 214,630 | 1 | [33] |
2014 | 203,501 | 1 | [34] |
2015 | 206,236 | 1 | [35] |
2016 | 209,610 | 1 | [36] |
2017 | 216,566 | 1 | [37] |
2018 | 217,061 | 1 | [38] |
2019 | 205,766 | 1 | [39] |
2020 | 204,801 | 1 | [ citation needed ] |
Above figures exclude Lexus sales.
Passenger models
SUV models
Commercial models
Toyota Team Australia competed in the Australian Touring Car Championship between 1985 and 1990 with Sprinters, Corollas and a Supra managed by A.M.I Toyota with Team Manager, Tony Niovanni. It also competed in the Australian Rally Championship with Neal Bates.
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 at Supercars Championship events. The series started in 2016 and is 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, is staged at selected Supercars events and has been sanctioned by the Confederation of Australian Motor Sport. [40]
Toyota Technical Centre Australia (TTC-AU). Formed in June 2003 in Notting Hill, Victoria [41] to do Body Engineering; Chassis, Mechanical Engineering & Evaluation; Customer Quality Engineering; Electronics Engineering; and Support. [42] This facility closed on 30 June 2016 with the loss of 160 jobs. [43]
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, AFLW, 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. [44]
Toyota Motor Corporation is a Japanese multinational automotive manufacturer headquartered in Toyota City, Aichi, Japan. It was founded by Kiichiro Toyoda and incorporated on August 28, 1937. Toyota is the largest automobile manufacturer in the world, producing about 10 million vehicles per year.
The Toyota Avalon is a full-size sedan manufactured by Toyota, as its largest front-wheel drive sedan; also its flagship in the United States, Canada, China and the Middle East. The Avalon was also manufactured in Australia from April 2000 until June 2005, when it was replaced in November 2006 by the Aurion. The first production Avalon was manufactured in September 1994 at the TMMK assembly line in Georgetown, Kentucky, where subsequent generations have been manufactured.
The Toyota Corolla is a series of compact cars manufactured and marketed globally by the Japanese automaker Toyota Motor Corporation. Introduced in 1966, the Corolla was the best-selling car worldwide by 1974 and has been one of the best-selling cars in the world since then. In 1997, the Corolla became the best-selling nameplate in the world, surpassing the Volkswagen Beetle. Toyota reached the milestone of 50 million Corollas sold over twelve generations in 2021.
The Toyota Camry is an automobile sold internationally by the Japanese auto manufacturer Toyota since 1982, spanning multiple generations. Originally compact in size (narrow-body), the Camry has grown since the 1990s to fit the mid-size classification (wide-body)—although the two widths co-existed in that decade. Since the release of the wide-bodied versions, Camry has been extolled by Toyota as the firm's second "world car" after the Corolla. As of 2022, the Camry is positioned above the Corolla and below the Avalon or Crown in several markets.
The Toyota Camry (XV10) is a mid-size car that was produced by Toyota between 1991 and 1996 in Japan and North America, and 1993 and 1997 in Australia. The XV10 series represented the third generation of the Toyota Camry in all markets outside Japan, which followed a different generational lineage. The XV10 Camry range is split into different model codes indicative of the engine. Four-cylinder models use the SXV10/SDV10 codes, with VCV10 designating the six-cylinder versions, and MCV10 the later six-cylinder cars in North America only.
The Toyota Aurion (XV40) is the original series of the Toyota Aurion, a mid-size car produced by Toyota in Australia and parts of Asia. Designated "XV40", Toyota manufactured the first generation Aurion between 2006 and 2012 until it was fully replaced by the XV50 series. While Asian production of the XV50 series began in late 2011, Toyota's Australian operations did not take on production of the new model until 2012.
Australian Motor Industries (AMI) was an automobile assembly firm that was significant in the early history of the automotive industry in Australia.
United Australian Automobile Industries (UAAI) was an automobile model sharing firm that operated in Australia between 1987 and 1996 as the result of an agreement between Holden and Toyota Australia. The joint venture resulted in the two companies sharing production of locally produced automobiles by selling their models under both brands.
The Toyota Camry (XV40) is a mid-size car produced by Toyota from January 2006 to October 2011. Replacing the XV30 series, the XV40 represented the sixth generation of the Toyota Camry in all markets outside Japan, which followed a different generational lineage. Between 2006 and 2010, a badge engineered model called Daihatsu Altis sold alongside the Camry in Japan. Toyota replaced the XV40 series in 2011 with the XV50.
A substantial car industry was created in Australia in the 20th century through the opening of Australian plants by international manufacturers. The first major carmaker was Ford Australia and the first Australian-designed mass production car was manufactured by Holden in 1948. Australian manufacture of cars rose to a maximum of almost half a million in the 1970s and still exceeded 400,000 in 2004. Australia was best known for the design and production of 'large' sized passenger vehicles. By 2009 total production had fallen to around 175,000 and the Australian market was dominated by cars imported from Asia and Europe.
The Toyota Camry (XV30) is a mid-size car produced by Toyota from June 2001 to January 2006. The XV30 series represented the fifth generation of the Toyota Camry in all markets outside Japan, which followed a different generational lineage. The XV30 range is split into different model codes indicative of the engine. Four-cylinder models utilize the ACV30 and ACV35 codes, with MCV30 (3.0-liter) and MCV31 (3.3-liter) designating the six-cylinder versions.
Manufacturing in Australia peaked in the 1960s at 25% of the country's gross domestic product, and has since dropped below 10%. At one stage manufacturing employed almost a third of Australia's workforce. Automotive manufacturing in Australia began in the 1920s and came to an end in 2017.
The Toyota Camry (XV50) is a mid-size car produced by Toyota from August 2011 to August 2020. Replacing the XV40 series, the XV50 represents the seventh generation of the Toyota Camry in all markets outside Japan, which follows a different generational lineage.
The Toyota Aurion is a mid-size car produced by Toyota in Australia and parts of Asia from 2006 to 2017. In the two generations it was produced, the Aurion was derived from the equivalent Camry. Changes were mainly limited to revised front- and rear-end treatment, along with changes to the interior. The Camry-based Aurion was also sold in the majority of East and Southeast Asia as the Toyota Camry, with the original version of the Camry sold alongside the Aurion in Australasia and the Middle East. In the previous two markets, the car replaced the Avalon model, which can trace its roots back to the early 1990s. A total of 111,140 Aurions were sold over the 10 year Australian production span.
The Toyota Australia Altona Plant was a Toyota Australia manufacturing facility in the Melbourne suburb of Altona North.
The Toyota Mirai is a mid-size hydrogen fuel cell vehicle (FCV) manufactured by Toyota, and is the first FCV to be mass-produced and sold commercially. The Mirai was unveiled at the November 2014 Los Angeles Auto Show. As of November 2022, global sales totaled 21,475 units; the top-selling markets were the U.S. with 11,368 units, Japan with 7,435 and the rest of the world with 2,622.
The Toyota New Global Architecture is a modular automobile platform that underpins various Toyota and Lexus models, starting with the fourth-generation Prius in late 2015. TNGA platforms accommodate different vehicle sizes and also front-, rear-, and all-wheel drive configurations.
The adoption of plug-in electric vehicles in Australia is driven mostly by state-based electric vehicle targets and monetary incentives to support the adoption and deployment of low- or zero-emission vehicles. The monetary incentives include electric vehicle subsidies, interest-free loans, registration exemptions, stamp duty exemptions, the luxury car tax exemption and discounted parking for both private and commercial purchases. The Clean Energy Finance Corporation, energy providers, car loan providers and car insurance providers also offer their own financial incentives for electric vehicle purchases including Macquarie Bank offering the lowest electric car loan of 2.99%.
The Toyota Camry (XV70) is a mid-size car produced by Toyota since June 2017. Replacing the XV50 series, the XV70 represented the eighth generation of the Toyota Camry in all markets outside Japan, which followed a different generational lineage. Introduced at the January 2017 North American International Auto Show, it is built on the GA-K platform.