Toyota Australia has announced the production and sale of its two-millionth locally built car for the domestic market.
The milestone comes exactly 50 years after Australia became the first country to build Toyota vehicles outside Japan, starting with the Tiara in 1963.
Toyota Australia has achieved a number of major milestones in recent times. It built its three-millionth vehicle in December, and last month exported its one-millionth vehicle to the Middle East.
Production and sale of the second million vehicles for the domestic market took 21 years, coming up eight years faster than the first million.
The Corolla, Corona and Crown badges dominated the car maker’s the early years of local production, and in 1978 Australia became the first country outside Japan to build Toyota engines.
Toyota currently builds the Camry, Camry Hybrid and Aurion in Australia, as well as the four-cylinder petrol and hybrid engines for the Camry models.
In 2012, it produced approximately 101,000 vehicles at the Altona plant, with roughly 70 per cent of those exported.
Toyota Australia sales and marketing executive director Tony Cramb said the milestone underlined the car maker’s contribution to local jobs, manufacturing and the economy.
“This achievement is the latest demonstration that Toyota is building cars in Australia with the quality, technology, performance, fuel economy and value demanded by local and overseas buyers,” Cramb said.
“We have been doing that for half a century – and our employees, suppliers and dealers are committed to continuing to make their vital contributions to Australia.”
Toyota sold 21,287 locally manufactured vehicles in Australia between January and September, down 7.4 per cent on the same period in 2012. The company’s total Australian sales reached 158,793 to the end of September, down 0.2 per cent on 2012.
