Toyota confirms October date for Altona closure

Toyota has allowed Holden to bow out as the last Australian car maker.

The Japanese brand announced the official end date for Australian Camry production, with the 3rd of October 2017 to be the final operational day of the company's Altona facility in Victoria.

In the lead-up to the end of production Toyota has earmarked August for production of the last V6-powered Aurion, with Camry hybrid production to wrap-up in September ahead of the final petrol-powered Camry in October.

The announcement comes two weeks after Holden confirmed that its local production operations will cease on the 20th of October 2017, leaving it as the last manufacturer to assemble a passenger car in Australia.

Toyota's closure date also falls just days before the Supercars Australia Bathurst 1000 race, which despite Toyota's lack of involvement in the event mirrors Ford's 2016 closure which drew criticism from local media as an attempt to minimise coverage of the shutdown.

The production forecast for the year sees 61,000 vehicles expected to be built ahead of the shutdown with 26,600 units scheduled to stay in Australia and 34,400 built for export.

The Altona factory will continue to run two shifts daily until the scheduled shutdown date. The Altona site will be retained by Toyota for "new and relocated functions" which the company is yet to outline.

As well as the end of Australian production Toyota Australia will consolidate its corporate operations with head office functions continuing at Port Melbourne while its Sydney-based operations will be relocated by the 1st of January 2018.

 "Our priority over the remaining months is to continue to support our employees in every way possible so that they are well prepared for the future," Toyota Australia President Dave Buttner said. 

"We remain extremely proud of our rich manufacturing history which spans over 50 years. Our employees are committed to producing vehicles of the highest quality as we work towards our goal of 'last car = best global car'."

Toyota's current workforce of 3900 people will be reduced to 1300 employees once the full production wind-down is complete.

The Toyota Camry will switch to fully-imported status for the 2018 model year as shown at the recent Detroit Auto Show, with the next-generation model to be sourced from Japan with four-cylinder petrol, hybrid, and V6 engines.

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