Toyota SA has announced that it has sunk R6.1 billion into facilitating production of the all-new Hilux and Fortuner at its Prospecton plant in Durban.This investment is the single biggest investment Toyota has made to date.
Of the R6,1 billion investment – R1,9 billion relates to supplier tooling, R1,4 billion to in-house tooling and the rest to investment in in-house facilities and buildings to cater for the new press machines.
In addition to TSAM’s investment of R6,1 billion, Toyota’s suppliers have also made large investments amounting to over R1,7 billion, while also attracting five, new, international suppliers; which could create as many as 2 000 new jobs in the supply chain – all of this ultimately contributes to increased localisation of parts and modernisation of facilities and processes.
As a result the production at the Prospecton plant has increased from 120,000 to 140,000 per annum, with the ever-popular Hilux and Fortuner forming an 80 per cent of total production volume.