Locally made Rav4?

[Bossxr8]

TOYOTA Australia is expected to decide as early as next year which new model it will add to its Altona-based production line.

Several sources confirmed to GoAuto today that that business case for a third model to be added to the car-maker’s line alongside the Camry and Camry Hybrid mid-size car and Aurion large sedan would be finished in time for a decision either next year or in 2014.

That comes on top of a senior Toyota manager confirming the company was prepared to invest more money in its Australian operations.

Toyota Australia has long hinted that it would like to add another model to beef up production number and add diversity.

The all-new RAV4 unveiled last week at Los Angeles motor show will use the same 2.5-litre four-cylinder engine at the Camry, and is understood to share many Camry underpinnings in the engine-bay area.

Producing this in Australia would not only give Toyota a local weapon in the fast-growing compact SUV market but take the fight up to Holden’s locally-produced Captiva.

Seiichi Sudo, Toyota Motor Corporation senior managing officer, said today at the official launch of Australian production of the 2.5-litre four-cylinder engine that will power both the Camry and Camry Hybrid that the company was still keen to invest in its Altona operations.

Left: Toyota's new 2.5-litre engine on the Altona production line.

Asked if the withdrawal of federal funding from the car-making industry would hurt Toyota’s prospects here, Mr Sudo said the company’s relationship with the government was still important.

“We continue to watch [what the federal government] is doing and continue to look for opportunities,” he said. “We are looking at more investment in Australia.”

Chris Harrod, the Altona plant’s executive director of management and purchasing, said the $330 million engine plant was the first step in a string of investments the company was pouring into its Australian car-making operations.

“This [engine plant] investment has been secured by our performance here, and we’re studying, looking at what sort of products we can launch here in Australia,” Mr Harrod said.

“I guess the key thing for us at the moment is trying to understand from a customer’s point of view, what sort of model we should build here in Australia.

“One of the things that we’re studying is that we currently build Camry and Aurion here in Australia, and what other products can we possibly build here.

Mr Harrod said Camry and Aurion would continue to be built alongside the third model, believed to be a compact soft-roader with a higher profit margin than a small hatchback, and that the extra model would help build Toyota's Australian manufacturing to a “sustainable level”.

“Whatever we choose to do is something that has to be profitable,” Mr Harrod said.

Toyota aims to raise the number of cars it makes at its Altona plant to more than 100,000 a year, well above the break-even cut-off of about 80,000 cars a year.

The new engine plant is expected to produce 108,000 engines a year at the rate of 9000 a month, with about 15 per cent of the four-cylinder powerplants rolling off the line destined for Camry Hybrids.

However, not all those engines are destined for the engine bays of Australian-built cars. According to Toyota, another 15 per cent of the Atkinson-cycle hybrid engines are destined for Thai-built Camry Hybrid models, as well as a new export market for Australia – Malaysia – from January next year when production ramps up to full capacity.

The Australian-built engine is officially rated at 5.2 litres per 100 kilometres in hybrid form when mated to its imported electric motor and batteries, with the straight petrol motor rated at 7.8L/100km.

The Australian-built engine will match the performance figures of the hybrid engine that until now has been imported from Japan while the two-year project to refit Altona for the 2.5-litre engine’s production was completed.

While the engine is expected to comply with much tougher Euro VI emissions laws, the current engine complies with the current Euro IV standards that apply to Australian-made cars.





Since when is the Captiva locally made

Quality journalism.

But good to see Toyota investing in Australia.

[Nikked]

Encouraging to see this, puts to rest the "expense of Australian manufacture" argument...

Still up to GM and Ford to align Australia with global products, after all we have good facilities here, so why waste them.


+1 for Australia.

[FPV GTHO]

Surely it would make more sense to sell Kluger locally?

[nstg8a]

Build whatever is selling the most.

[Flat Top]

kluger is a Camry platform , RAV 4 isnt.

[LightningStrike]

"Holden's locally produced Captiva"

Since when has a Captiva EVER been produced in Australia?!?!

They are Korean, down to the badges...........kinda diminishes the cred of the author when they get basic stuff wrong.




Back on track, good on Toyota for considering investing in manufacturing more lines locally than Holden!

[bobthebilda]

Originally Posted by Bossxr8

Since when is the Captiva locally made

Quality journalism.

But good to see Toyota investing in Australia.

If the story has a major flaw like this, why would there be any belief that the future investment side of things was based on fact.

Most other news sites quote stories that they havent committed too far into the future (for car making) as per following-

http://www.caradvice.com.au/204051/t...plant-opening/

Toyota has officially committed to building cars in Australia until at least 2017, and Yasuda says the construction of a new engine plant is “at the heart of” the company’s local manufacturing strategy.

[music189]

toyota looking at another model to build in Melbourne can only be good

[mike_nofx]

I didn't know they made Captivas in Australia?

And why would it be a good idea to locally produce a car specifically to "fight" with another locally built car? To create jobs in one Aussie plant but reduce jobs in another Aussie plant?

[flooded one]

with all the doom and gloom that's apparently happening. Toyota would survive more then holden and ford. this is good news for Australian manufacturing. thou i think it would make more sense too build corolla here again then any other model Toyota has.

[FPV GTHO]

Originally Posted by mike_nofx

I didn't know they made Captivas in Australia?

And why would it be a good idea to locally produce a car specifically to "fight" with another locally built car? To create jobs in one Aussie plant but reduce jobs in another Aussie plant?

Local production of Kluger or Rav4 won't necessarily take sales off Territory. They would have to either have a stronger supply or offer a better vehicle than the imported product.

[mike_nofx]

Originally Posted by FPV GTHO

Local production of Kluger or Rav4 won't necessarily take sales off Territory. They would have to either have a stronger supply or offer a better vehicle than the imported product.

I was referring to the 6th paragraph of the article, but also having a dig at the writer of that article.

For one, calling the Captiva locally produced. Then also for suggesting that having 2 locally produced cars competing against each other for sales is a good thing.

[jpd80]

A locally assembled RAV4 using Camry mechanicals and maybe hybrid power train would cement Toyota's future here.
Holden will do likewise with Cruze based SUV but Ford will be forced to decide what they do..with other products...

[Bossxr8]

Originally Posted by wildrider

with all the doom and gloom that's apparently happening. Toyota would survive more then holden and ford. this is good news for Australian manufacturing. thou i think it would make more sense too build corolla here again then any other model Toyota has.

But Toyota have one massive negative the others don't, Toyota HQ could just pull up stumps tommorrow and bring the Camry in from one of the other 7 plants around the world that make it.

Toyota have already looked at production of Corolla, and like Ford with Focus, have concluded they can't make a cent out of it. Their CEO actually said he has no idea how the hell Holden can even make a cent out of Cruze here.

A more expensive and more profitable vehicle like Kluger or Rav4 makes a lot more sense, because they aren't much more expensive to build, but cost a lot more.

[FPV GTHO]

I think Cruze is merely giving the workers something to do whilst there's no Commodores to build.

[jpd80]

Originally Posted by FPV GTHO

I think Cruze is merely giving the workers something to do whilst there's no Commodores to build.

Given GM's intention to discontinue Cruze production in Korea and the development of an SUV variant,
Holden may have a lot more production in the future.

[BroadyFord]

I for one would like to know how Toyota would (and currently does) make money on a RAV4.

With Toyota heavily reliant on exports and our dollar sitting at >1.05 wouldn't they make more money just importing the vehicle from Japan etc?