Toyota Australia to stop local manufacturing in 2017
11 February 2014 9:29 am / 51 comments
Toyota Australia has just announced that it will stop all its local manufacturing operations by the end of 2017, and become a sales and distribution company. Its production plant in Altona, Victoria currently makes the Camry, Camry Hybrid and Aurion models, as well as a line of four-cylinder engines – all of which, will cease by end-2017.
Why? Plenty of reasons were given, among which are the unfavourable Australian dollar that makes exports unviable, high costs of manufacturing, low economies of scale and increased competitiveness within the region due to current and future Free Trade Agreements.