Boost for UK car sector: Toyota to build new Auris in Derbyshire

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As reported by Toyota, the majority of engines for its new model will be sourced from the company’s Deeside factory in North Wales, helping secure 3,000 jobs across the two sites.

This decision follows TME’s announcement of more than £240m investment in Toyota Manufacturing UK (TMUK) in March last year.

The factory is reportedly being upgraded with new equipment, technologies and systems to enable manufacture of vehicles on the Toyota New Global Architecture (TNGA) platform.

On a visit to Burnaston, Dr Johan van Zyl, TME president and CEO, said: “Producing TNGA-based vehicles locally is a key part of our plan to strengthen the global competitiveness of our plants.”

Van Zyl said that the announcement shows the company’s confidence in the skills and capabilities of TMUK members.

He added: “As a company, we are doing what we can to secure the competitiveness of our UK operations as a leading manufacturing centre for our European business.

“With around 85% of our UK vehicle production exported to European markets, continued free and frictionless trade between the UK and Europe will be vital for future success.”

Marvin Cooke, TMUK managing director, commented:“The introduction of a new model based on the TNGA platform is a big responsibility and we are committed to building vehicles and engines of the highest quality, at the best cost.

Business Secretary Greg Clark welcomed the decision during a visit to the Burnaston factory, where he met teams who will be working on the new model.

The major decision was reportedly helped in part by government investment of more than £20m announced last year to support the upgrade of the facility and the installation of a new production platform to make the plant more competitive and enable it to build more advanced vehicles.