Government continues talks with Toyota over local manufacturing future

Industry Minister Greg Combet confirmed the government is in the process of developing “a range of measures” to guarantee the manufacturing future of the Toyota’s local vehicle production, according to Fairfax media.

“At the moment I am working with Toyota on a set of measures as well and we are confident of their future in manufacturing,” Combet further told the ABC.

Toyota has made clear its intentions to expand local production to a third vehicle past the currently produced Camry, Camry Hybrid and Aurion since late last year, with a business case for a locally-made SUV being discussed.

With Toyota already producing a 2.5-litre four-cylinder engine at its new Altona-based petrol and hybrid engine plant that matches the unit in the newly released Toyota RAV4 – a model currently built in Japan – the compact soft-roader appears a likely candidate.

In the wake of Ford announcing it will cease local production in October 2016 an industry crisis meeting is taking place in Melbourne today, with representatives from Holden, Ford and Toyota included along with members of the Prime Minister’s manufacturing taskforce.

CarAdvice has contacted Toyota Australia's public relations manager Mike Breen for comment and is awaiting a response.