Industry News
Toyota ponders temporary closure of British factory as sales collapse worldwide
17th Febuary 2010
Toyota is considering halting production at its factory at Burnaston, near Derby, because of collapsing sales amid the car company’s recall crisis.
The company is expected to shut two plants in the United States for 14 days from next month, and is also reviewing production at its European factories.
Toyota is in the middle of a global recall of 8.5 million cars, with faults ranging from dangerous floor mats, defective accelerator pedals and brake system failures in its flagship Prius hybrid. The recall is blamed for a collapse in sales for the world’s largest carmaker.
Akio Toyoda, the president of Toyota, is expected to make a significant announcement today, hard on the heels of updated statistics from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHSTA), the American road safety agency, which put the death toll from incidents allegedly relating to faulty Toyotas at 34.
Toyota was the worst performer among the leading marques in the UK in January, with sales down by 12.5 per cent in a market still buoyed by the Government’s scrappage scheme.
Asked whether Toyota might halt production in Europe, a spokesman said: “All production planning is under consideration concerning our future direction. This is normal, but we now have to take into context the recall situation and the impact. We have no confirmed information on this matter as yet and no decisions have been made.”
In Europe Toyota has production plants at Valenciennes, in France, where the Yaris, the model that is its biggest seller in Britain, is made; in Turkey, where the Verso and some Auris models are manufactured; and in the Czech Republic, where the Aygo city car is made.
The British plant in Burnaston employs 3,500 people, while Toyota’s engine factory on Deeside employs another 500. Toyota announced plans last month to cut one in five of its workers at Burnaston because of tumbling production levels.
Burnaston produced 127,000 Avensis and Auris models last year — a 40 per cent cut from the 213,000 that rolled off the assembly line in 2008.
Toyota said that it aimed to mothball one of its production lines from August.
No official figures of incidents in the UK relating to faulty Toyotas have been released by Vosa, the British vehicle safety agency, nor by the Department for Transport. There are thought to be 1.6 million Toyotas on British roads and 185,000 vehicles under recall by the company. Toyota said that it had had no reports of deaths relating to faulty vehicles anywhere in Europe.
In the US, the traffic safety administration has upwardly revised its figure for alleged deaths from faulty Toyotas to 34 over the past decade. These fatalities are all related, it is said, to unintended acceleration in Toyota vehicles. Since the recall began last month, the administration has logged a further nine fatal crashes in which 13 people died.
It has been reported that Toyota will be temporarily closing assembly lines at plants in Texas and Kentucky. The company declined to confirm the reports before Mr Toyoda’s statements tomorrow. Toyota had already halted North American production of vehicles with potentially faulty accelerator pedals this month.
Engine failure
8.5m Total of Toyota cars to be recalled worldwide
1.6m Number of Toyotas on British roads
185,000 Number of cars under recall in the UK
12.5% Fall in Toyota sales in the UK in January
Source: Times research
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