Toyota New Zealand Limited is the importer and distributor of new

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 ...

and

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 to

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

. It also imports used vehicles from Japan and refurbishes them at its former assembly plant in

Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the second-longest in the United Kingdom, after the R ...

. Until 1998 it also assembled a variety of completely knocked down vehicles from imported and New Zealand materials. Administration is from

Palmerston North Palmerston North (; mi, Te Papa-i-Oea, known colloquially as Palmy) is a city in the North Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Manawatū-Whanganui region. Located in the eastern Manawatu Plains, the city is near the north bank of the ...

. There is a national sales office and import administration office in Auckland.

Local manufacturing

:''See

Automotive industry in New Zealand The automotive industry in New Zealand supplies a market which has always had one of the world's highest car ownership ratios. The distributors of new cars are essentially the former owners of the assembly businesses. At the dealership level ...

'' From the mid-1960s

sold a variety of its vehicles to its New Zealand sole agent, locally owned vehicle import-licence holderImport licensing announced in 1938 and introduced in 1939 allowed the government to issue licences in such proportions and to such persons or businesses as it might choose. Local businessmen convinced officials of the low prices and high quality of Japanese vehicles and licences were issued. It was politically unacceptable to issue new licences directly to foreigners or to strip licences from New Zealand owned and operated businesses in favour of foreigners. and vehicle distributor Consolidated Motor Industries incorporated in November 1965. Toyota owned no New Zealand import system or distribution or dealership chain but worked towards acquiring a shareholding in Consolidated. Consolidated Motor Industries was renamed in November 1970 Consolidated Motor Distributors.and, as shareholders changed, Toyota New Zealand Limited in May 1979.A McEwan, ‘’Developing Economies’’
Heritage Consultancy Services report to Thames-Coromandel District Council 2010 Consolidated Motor Industries ( Cable Price Downer and Wright Stephenson later a part of Challenge Corporation) arranged for the completely knocked down Toyota vehicles to be assembled by Steel Motor Assemblies in

Christchurch Christchurch ( ; mi, Ōtautahi) is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Christchurch lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula on Pegasus Bay. The Avon Rive ...

—first vehicle was a Corona in February 1967,Patrick Harlow, ''New Zealand Manufactured Cars'', Wilsonscott, Christchurch 2013 and Campbell Motor Industries in Thames —first was a Corolla in April 1968. Over the next 25 years Toyota slowly acquired ownership of these three businesses completing acquisition in 1992 and during that intervening period when they gained control of them renaming them Toyota New Zealand (previously Consolidated Motor Distributors), Toyota New Zealand Christchurch and Toyota New Zealand Thames. Locally produced components were also used, and included items such as

tyres A tire (American English) or tyre (British English) is a ring-shaped component that surrounds a wheel's rim to transfer a vehicle's load from the axle through the wheel to the ground and to provide traction on the surface over which t ...

seats A seat is a place to sit. The term may encompass additional features, such as back, armrest, head restraint but also headquarters in a wider sense. Types of seat The following are examples of different kinds of seat: * Armchair, a chair eq ...

, trims,

glass Glass is a non-crystalline, often transparent, amorphous solid that has widespread practical, technological, and decorative use in, for example, window panes, tableware, and optics. Glass is most often formed by rapid cooling ( quenching ...

, car audio and consumable items. Vehicles that were locally assembled were Toyota Starlet, Corolla,

Corona Corona (from the Latin for 'crown') most commonly refers to: * Stellar corona, the outer atmosphere of the Sun or another star * Corona (beer), a Mexican beer * Corona, informal term for the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, which causes the COVID-19 di ...

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 ...

, Cressida, Hilux, LiteAce, Land Cruiser and HiAce. Assembly ended in Christchurch in September 1996 and in Thames October 1998.75 Years of Toyota
accessed 22 April 2016 Toyota's remaining factory at Thames became a refurbishment centre for the resale of used imports from Japan, designated as Signature Class. During 1998 tariffs on cars imported fully assembled ended as the final step of a long-term New Zealand Government plan for the industry. The remaining four local assemblers — Mitsubishi (June), Nissan (July),

Honda is a Japanese public multinational conglomerate manufacturer of automobiles, motorcycles, and power equipment, headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. Honda has been the world's largest motorcycle manufacturer since 1959, reaching a producti ...

(August) and

(October)— all ended local assembly and switched to importing fully built-up vehicles. Cars manufactured in Australia, including

Toyota Australia 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 A ...

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 in size (narrow-body), the Camry ...

, were already being imported into New Zealand duty-free under the Closer Economic Relations (CER) agreement.

Importing

New vehicles

New Toyota and Lexus vehicles are sourced from Japan (Corolla, HiAce, RAV4, Yaris, GR Yaris, Land Cruiser, 86, Previa, Prius, Camry), Austria (GR Supra), Thailand (HiLux, Fortuner, Corolla) and the United States of America (Highlander).

Used vehicles

Toyota New Zealand imports used Toyotas purchased in Japan and certifies them to specific standards at the Thames Vehicle Operations facility. Ex-lease Toyotas originally sold new in New Zealand are refurbished and sold under Toyota NZ's "Signature Class" brand.Signature Class
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Distribution

Toyota New Zealand sells new Toyota and Lexus vehicles as well as used vehicles, parts and service. The key operations are at three widely separated locations: the National Customer Centre in Palmerston North, ''Signature'' Vehicle Operations in Thames and a Port of Entry facility and Corporate Sales Office in Auckland. In 2014 Toyota celebrated 27 years of vehicle market leadership in New Zealand.

Notes

References

External links

Official website of Toyota New Zealand
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Companies based in Palmerston North Automotive companies of New Zealand Motor vehicle assembly plants in New Zealand