Toyota Australia is an Australian subsidiary of the Japanese car manufacturer

Toyota is a Japanese multinational automotive manufacturer headquartered in Toyota City, Aichi, Japan. It was founded by Kiichiro Toyoda and incorporated on . Toyota is one of the largest automobile manufacturers in the world, producing about 10 ...

. It markets Toyota products and manages motorsport, advertising and business operations for Toyota in Australia. It is also responsible for

Lexus is the luxury vehicle division of the Japanese automaker Toyota. The Lexus brand is marketed in more than 90 countries and territories worldwide and is Japan's largest-selling make of premium cars. It has ranked among the 10 largest Japanese ...

vehicles in Australia. Toyota Australia is based in

Port Melbourne Port Melbourne is an inner-city List of Melbourne suburbs, suburb in Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia, south-west of Melbourne's Melbourne central business district, Central Business District, located within the Cities of ...

, with offices in

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the list of cities in Australia by population, fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater A ...

Perth Perth is the list of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the Australian states and territories of Australia, state of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth most populous city in Aust ...

, Sydney,

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the states and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland, and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a populati ...

Townsville Townsville is a city on the north-eastern coast of Queensland, Australia. With a population of 180,820 as of June 2018, it is the largest settlement in North Queensland; it is unofficially considered its capital. Estimated resident population, 30 ...

and

Darwin Darwin may refer to: Common meanings * Charles Darwin (1809–1882), English naturalist and writer, best known as the originator of the theory of biological evolution by natural selection * Darwin, Northern Territory, a territorial capital city i ...

. Toyota Australia manufactured cars in Australia from 1963 until 2017.

History

Toyota Australia commenced operations in 1959, when

Toyota Land Cruiser The (also sometimes spelled as LandCruiser) is a series of four-wheel drive vehicles produced by the Japanese automobile manufacturer Toyota. It is Toyota's longest running series of models. , the sales of the Land Cruiser totalled more than ...

s were imported by Thiess Toyota, a 60/40 joint venture between Thiess and Toyota, for the

Snowy Mountains Scheme The Snowy Mountains Scheme or Snowy scheme is a hydroelectricity and irrigation complex in south-east Australia. The Scheme consists of sixteen major dams; nine power stations; two pumping stations; and of tunnels, pipelines and aqueducts that ...

. By 1963, assembly of Toyota vehicles in Australia by Australian Motor Industries (AMI) had begun, taking place at the production plant in

. 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 and announced plans to spend $127 million on an engine and gearbox plant. 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. 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. The first AMI exported car was a Toyota Corona wagon in 1986 headed for New Zealand. In 1987, 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 In the automotive industry, rebadging is a form of market segmentation used by automobile manufacturers around the world. To allow for product differentiation without designing or engineering a new model or brand (at high cost or risk), a man ...

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 The Toyota Camry (; Japanese: トヨタ・カムリ ''Toyota Kamuri'') is an automobile sold internationally by the Japanese auto manufacturer Toyota since 1982, spanning multiple generations. Originally compact car, compact in size (narrow-body ...

and the first vehicle produced at the Altona plant a

Toyota Corolla The is a series of compact cars (formerly subcompact) manufactured and marketed globally by the 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 ...

. 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. Many Toyota vehicles have been built at either Altona or Port Melbourne, including the Tiara, Corona,

Crown A crown is a traditional form of head adornment, or hat, worn by monarchs as a symbol of their power and dignity. A crown is often, by extension, a symbol of the monarch's government or items endorsed by it. The word itself is used, partic ...

Corolla Corolla may refer to: *Corolla (botany), the petals of a flower, considered as a unit *Toyota Corolla, an automobile model name * Corolla (headgear), an ancient headdress in the form of a circlet or crown * ''Corolla'' (gastropod), a genus of moll ...

, Camry and Avalon. The

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 A federation (also known as a federal state) is a political entity characterized by a union of partially self-governing provinces, states, or other regions under a central federal government (federalism). In a federation, the self-govern ...

. The first locally-made Australian Toyota Hybrid Camry was completed and revealed to public on 11 December 2009, driven by Prime Minister

Kevin Rudd Kevin Michael Rudd (born 21 September 1957) is an Australian former politician and diplomat who served as the 26th prime minister of Australia from 2007 to 2010 and again from June 2013 to September 2013, holding office as the leader of the ...

. In February 2014, it was announced Toyota would cease manufacturing vehicles and engines in Australia by the end of 2017. 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. 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) remains in Port Melbourne and the Altona plant retained for other functions including a Centre Of Excellence and vehicle proving facility known as the Autodrome. The workforce is expected to be reduced from 3,900 to 1,300.

Manufacturing

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. 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: * Toyota Tiara: 1963–1965 *

Toyota Crown The is an automobile which has been produced by Toyota in Japan since 1955. It is primarily a line of mid-size luxury cars that is marketed as an upmarket offering in the Toyota lineup. Introduced in 1955 as the Toyopet Crown, it has serve ...

: 1966–1980 * Toyota Corona: 1965–1987 *

: 1987–2017 *

: 1968–1999 * Holden Apollo: 1989–1996 * Holden Nova: 1989–1996 * Toyota Lexcen: 1989-1996 *

Toyota Avalon The is a full-size sedan produced by Toyota. It is Toyota's largest front-wheel drive sedan and serves as its flagship vehicle in the United States, Canada, China and the Middle East. It was also produced in Australia from April 2000 until Jun ...

: 2000–2005 * Toyota Aurion: 2006–2017 *

Hybrid: 2009–2017

Altona plant

The Altona plant was the Toyota Australia manufacturing facility that operated in the Melbourne suburb of Altona. It opened in 1994, replacing the previous

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 The Toyota Camry (; Japanese: トヨタ・カムリ ''Toyota Kamuri'') is an automobile sold internationally by the Japanese auto manufacturer Toyota since 1982, spanning multiple generations. Originally compact in size (narrow-body), the Camry ...

commenced. 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. The plant closed on 3 October 2017, marking the end of Toyota's automobile manufacturing in Australia. 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. The Hydrogen Centre was commissioned on 29 March 2021 and incorporates a commercial-grade hydrogen production, storage and refuelling facility together with a education centre and a service facility for a Toyota Mirai fuel cell electric vehicle (FCEV) demonstration fleet. The facility has the capacity to produce up to 80 kg of hydrogen per day by electrolysis of

water Water (chemical formula ) is an inorganic, transparent, tasteless, odorless, and nearly colorless chemical substance, which is the main constituent of Earth's hydrosphere and the fluids of all known living organisms (in which it acts as ...

with a 200 kW electrolyser using electricity from a 87 kW

solar panel A solar cell panel, solar electric panel, photo-voltaic (PV) module, PV panel or solar panel is an assembly of photovoltaic solar cells mounted in a (usually rectangular) frame, and a neatly organised collection of PV panels is called a pho ...

, a 100 kW battery storage or from the power grid. The hydrogen refuelling station will be the first to be made available to the public in Victoria. The Centre also has a 30 kW

fuel cell A fuel cell is an electrochemical cell that converts the chemical energy of a fuel (often hydrogen fuel, hydrogen) and an oxidizing agent (often oxygen) into electricity through a pair of redox reactions. Fuel cells are different from most bat ...

to convert the stored hydrogen into electricity for backup power and to feed into the mains grid. The education centre had earlier been completed in April 2020. 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. 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.

Sales

Toyota Australia has held the largest market share of Australia's new car market for eighteen consecutive years from 2003 - 2020 Above figures exclude Lexus sales.

Lineup

Passenger models * Toyota Yaris (

subcompact car Subcompact car is a North American classification for cars smaller than a compact car. It is broadly equivalent to the B-segment (Europe), supermini (Great Britain) or A0-class (China) classifications. According to the U.S. Environmental Pr ...

) *

(

compact car Compact car is a vehicle size class — predominantly used in North America — that sits between subcompact cars and mid-size cars. "Small family car" is a British term and a part of the C-segment in the European car classification. However ...

) *

Toyota Prius The is a car built by Toyota which has a hybrid drivetrain, combining an internal combustion engine with an electric motor. Initially offered as a four-door sedan, it has been produced only as a five-door liftback since 2003. In 2007, t ...

(compact car) *

(

mid-size car Mid-size—also known as intermediate—is a vehicle size class which originated in the United States and is used for cars larger than compact cars and smaller than full-size cars. "Large family car" is a UK term and a part of the D-segment in ...

) * Toyota GR 86 (

sports car A sports car is a car designed with an emphasis on dynamic performance, such as handling, acceleration, top speed, the thrill of driving and racing capability. Sports cars originated in Europe in the early 1900s and are currently produced by ...

) * Toyota GR Yaris (sports car) * Toyota GR Supra (sports car) SUV models *

Toyota Yaris Cross The is a subcompact crossover SUV ( B-segment) produced by the Japanese automaker Toyota, adopting the Yaris nameplate primarily for the Japanese, European and Australian markets. It is built on GA-B platform as the XP210 series Yaris hatc ...

(

mini SUV A sport utility vehicle (SUV) is a car classification that combines elements of road-going passenger cars with features from off-road vehicles, such as raised ground clearance and four-wheel drive. There is no commonly agreed-upon definit ...

/ Subcompact crossover SUV) * Toyota C-HR (Subcompact crossover SUV) * Toyota RAV4 (

compact crossover SUV Compact crossover SUV is an automobile classification used mainly in North America to describe a segment of crossover SUV, a type of sport utility vehicle, between subcompact crossover SUV and mid-size crossover SUV. By late 2010s, the segme ...

) * Toyota Kluger (

mid-size crossover SUV Mid-size crossover SUV is an automobile classification used mainly in North America to describe a segment of crossover SUV, a type of sport utility vehicle, between compact crossover SUV and full-size crossover SUV. A mid-size crossover SU ...

) * Toyota Fortuner ( mid-size SUV) * Toyota Land Cruiser Prado ( full-size SUV) *

(full-size SUV) Commercial models *

Toyota Hilux The , stylized as HiLux and historically as Hi-Lux, is a series of pickup trucks produced and marketed by the Japanese automobile manufacturer Toyota. The majority of these vehicles are sold as pickup truck or cab chassis variants, although the ...

( Mid-size ute) * Toyota Land Cruiser (J70) (ute/ troop carrier/full-size SUV) * Toyota HiAce (

van A van is a type of road vehicle used for transporting goods or people. Depending on the type of van, it can be bigger or smaller than a pickup truck and SUV, and bigger than a common car. There is some varying in the scope of the word across th ...

) * Toyota Granvia (people mover) * Toyota Coaster (

bus A bus (contracted from omnibus, with variants multibus, motorbus, autobus, etc.) is a road vehicle that carries significantly more passengers than an average car or van. It is most commonly used in public transport, but is also in use for cha ...

)

Motorsport

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 The Toyota 86 and the Subaru BRZ are 2+2 sports cars jointly developed by Toyota and Subaru, manufactured at Subaru's Gunma assembly plant. The 2+2 fastback coupé has a naturally-aspirated boxer engine, front-engined, rear-wheel-drive c ...

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.

Supporting facilities

Toyota Technical Centre Australia (TTC-AU). Formed in June 2003 in Notting Hill, Victoria to do Body Engineering; Chassis, Mechanical Engineering & Evaluation; Customer Quality Engineering; Electronics Engineering; and Support. This facility closed on 30 June 2016 with the loss of 160 jobs.

Sponsorship

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 Cricket Australia (CA), formerly known as the Australian Cricket Board (ACB), is the governing body for professional and amateur cricket in Australia. It was originally formed in 1905 as the 'Australian Board of Control for International Crick ...

, 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.

References

External links

Toyota Motor Corporation Australia Website
{{Automotive industry in Australia Vehicle manufacturing companies established in 1958 Australian subsidiaries of foreign companies Car manufacturers of Australia Australia Australian companies established in 1958