The Toyota Australia Altona Plant was a Toyota Australia manufacturing facility in the Melbourne suburb of Altona North.
| Toyota Australia Altona Plant | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Built | 1978 |
| Location | Altona North, Victoria, Australia |
| Coordinates | 37°50′08″S 144°49′52″E / 37.83556°S 144.83111°E |
| Industry | Motor vehicle assembly |
| Products | Holden Apollo Holden Nova Toyota Aurion Toyota Avalon Toyota Camry Toyota Corolla |
| Employees | 2,500 (2014) |
| Area | 75 hectares |
| Address | Grieve Parade |
| Owner(s) | Toyota Australia |
| Defunct | 3 October 2017 |
History
editThe Toyota Australia Altona Plant opened in 1978, as Toyota's first engine plant outside of Japan.[1][2] Panel production began in 1983, before full vehicle production commenced in July 1994 with manufacture of the Corolla transferred from Port Melbourne followed in January 1995 by the Camry.[3][4] The expanded plant built by John Holland was opened by Prime Minister Paul Keating.[5][6]
Altona also manufactured the badge engineered Holden Apollo and Holden Novas. It exported cars to Brunei, Kuwait, New Zealand, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Thailand and the United Arab Emirates.[7][8]
In August 2012, Altona competed its one millionth vehicle for export.[8] In February 2014 Toyota announced the plant would close after it decided it would cease production in Australia.[9][10] This occurred in October 2017.[11][12]
The site was redeveloped with the former manufacturing building converted into a redevelopment facility which included vehicle design and testing studios, training rooms, a mock sales dealership, auditorium and 400 person bistro.[13][14][15] In 2024 Toyota began assembling and distributing stationary hydrogen fuel cell power generators at Altona.[16]
References
edit- ^ Toyota, AMI plans for expansion Canberra Times 21 August 1976 page 15
- ^ Toyota to build new plant Canberra Times 10 March 1977 page 21
- ^ Toyota expands Australian Jewish News 20 May 1983 page 26
- ^ Corollas rolling at Altona Canberra Times 9 September 1994 page 17
- ^ Up for the Challenge: The John Holland Story 1986 - 2016. John Holland. 2018. pp. 125–127.
- ^ Toyota timeline: Carmaker's closure to end long history in Australia ABC News 11 February 2014
- ^ Toyota Opens New Plant in Altona Toyota 30 March 1995
- ^ a b Toyota Australia exports one-millionth car to Middle East Drive 26 September 2013
- ^ Toyota to close: Thousands of jobs to go as carmaker closes Australian plants by 2017 ABC News 19 February 2014
- ^ Toyota considers its Altona base Australian Financial Review 12 February 2014
- ^ Toyota workers out of jobs as car manufacturer closes Altona plant ABC News 3 October 2017
- ^ Toyota Ends Production in Australia After 54 Years Toyota 4 October 2017
- ^ Repurposing Toyota’s Altona factory into a Centre of Excellence JLL
- ^ Toyota opens State-of-the-Art Product Centre at Altona Torque Toyota 13 December 2021
- ^ Toyota Powertrain ADCO Constructions
- ^ Toyota to assemble and distribute stationary hydrogen fuel cell power generators GEH2 in Australia Toyota Australia 19 October 2023