Toyota doesn't close factories very often but it will do so at times. It did close one recently in Brazil but it wasn't assembling cars when it came to an end and the parts it was making were moved to other plants. It was Toyota's first overseas plant. It's also going to close a parts plant in Marion, Arkansaw which assembles parts for Hino and Toyota.
In 2017, it closed its Australian vehicle manufacturing operation which started back in 1963. Various models were made there and this is a summary of how it went.
Tiara: It was a medium sized 4-door car that was replaced by the Corona. It was a step up from models before but progress from this model would follow. It was like an entrée, a pioneer opening the way for others to follow. Number assembled 1,684.
Corona: The Tiara replacement was more in line with Western tastes and sales jumped accordingly. It went from 1965 to 1987 which I presume covered five generations from third to eighth. Number assembled 336,197.
Crown: This large car came along a year later and was assembled in Australia for 16 years. I assume it was considered a success despite not troubling other locally made large cars. It was more premium so volume would be lower. Number assembled 46,690.
Corolla: It was made in Australia from 1967 to 1999. An obvious success. Number assembled 601,104.
Camry: It was a new nameplate for Toyota and surfaced in 1982. In 1987, this medium to large car began being assembled in Australia. By this time the Crown had already been discontinued in Australia and the Corona ended with the Camry's arrival. It continued through to 2017.
It didn't sell locally in the numbers the Holden Commodore or the Ford Falcon but it had a strong export programme kept it viable. Number assembled 2,168,104.
Avalon: Slightly larger than the Camry, it wasn't a successful model and was soon replaced by the Aurion. Number assembled 44,741.
Aurion: This was a more prestigious Camry and was more successful than its predecessor. It was assembled in Australia from 2006 to 2017. Number assembled 184,180.
A strange situation emerged when the Australian government wanted to reduce the high duty on imported cars, The idea was to gain economies of scale for local manufacturers through model sharing between brands. It doesn't usually work too well and didn't last. Two models made by Toyota were shared with GM Holden.
Apollo: From 1989 to 1996, the Camry was sold by Holden as the Apollo. It replaced the Camira and was replaced by the Vectra. The numbers made over some years would indicate minimal success. Number assembled 40,287.
Nova: In the same timeframe, The Corolla became the Holden Nova, replacing the first generation Astra. When it ended, it was replaced by the third generation Astra. Again, it didn't seem overly successful. Number assembled 28,128.
Summary: Import duty ended but without large export markets, Ford and GM couldn't make local assembly pay so decided to pull the pin. Toyota in turn decided that it would no longer be viable to maintain Australian assembly on its own despite a stronger export focus than the other two had. Number assembled 3,451,115.
Data supplied by Toyota. I did the amazing chart.
PS. If anyone is able and prepared to assist with Australian sales by model in particular for the 1990's and earlier, please drop me a line at rdc1234@gmail.com.
