Toyota Australia has shuttered its Altona factory for good , ending 54 years of production in Australia.
Twelve months after Ford Australia ceased its manufacturing operations, and barely two weeks out from Holden’s respective closure, Toyota stopped the Altona production line about midday. The shutdown, which has resulted in about 2500 job losses, was closed to the media and the public.
Toyota has avoided much of the pomp and ceremony of both Ford and Holden, with a small run of limited-edition Camrys the only official commemoration to local manufacturing. Motoring.com.au approached Toyota for interview opportunities earlier this year but requests were ignored.
Toyota says it wants to make today’s shutdown a private affair out of respect to its organisation and to workers.
All in all, Toyota built 3.4 million vehicles across its Australian factories since 1963, many of which were exported as part of a $1 billion annual program.
Toyota announced it would cease production in Australia on February 11, 2014. It was the last of the three local manufacturers to do so.
Toyota will continue its Camry nameplate in Australia with the help of an imported eighth-generation model out of Japan. Toyota has confirmed its Aurion nameplate will be retired, after the final version went down the line in August 2017.
The Altona closure marks Toyota’s first mass production shut down in history.
CAR | NUMBER | YEARS |
Tiara | 1,684 | 1963-1965 |
Corona | 336,197 | 1965-1987 |
Crown | 46,690 | 1966-1980 |
Corolla | 601,104 | 1967-1999 |
Camry | 2,168,104 | 1987-2017 |
Apollo | 40,287 | 1989-1996 |
Nova | 28,128 | 1989-1996 |
Avalon | 44,741 | 2000-2005 |
Aurion | 184,180 | 2006-2017 |
TOTALS | 3,451,115 | 1963-2017 |