The restart of manufacturing at Toyota’s UK car plant in Derbyshire (www.toyota.co.uk) has seen the factory produce its 4.5 millionth vehicle. The landmark model, a 1.8-litre hybrid Corolla hatchback, rolled off the production line at the Burnaston plant yesterday, reaffirming that is it is very much ‘back-to-business’ at the site.

Production resumed on 26 May following temporary closure due to the COVID-19 health emergency and as a result, facilities and processes have had to be revised to ensure the health and safety of all staff members and visitors to the site.

Toyota Manufacturing UK (TMUK) completes a car every 89sec at Burnaston – which equates to 3,000 vehicles a week and on average around 150,000 a year. Of that total, almost 90% are exported to overseas markets, principally in Europe, reinforcing Toyota’s key status in UK manufacturing. In fact, the latest landmark Corolla is a left-hand drive model and is on its way to a customer in Poland.

Sense of pride
TMUK managing director Jim Crosbie said: “Seeing our 4.5 millionth car come off the line gives everyone at TMUK a sense of pride in what we have achieved in almost 30 years of high-quality manufacturing. It also symbolises the great commitment and team spirit of all our members to overcome the challenges we have faced and secure our future as a competitive and highly efficient business.”

TMUK has been building cars in the UK since 1992 when the Burnaston factory came on stream as Toyota’s first manufacturing centre in Europe. Since that time, £2.75 billion has been invested in the facility, most recently upgrading equipment, skills and supply chains for the latest TNGA (Toyota New Global Architecture) vehicle and engine production.

TMUK Burnaston is currently the European production centre for the Corolla Hatchback and Touring Sports models. Its sister plant in Deeside, North Wales, manufactures engines for Toyota’s 1.8-litre hybrid power system. As well as its own workforce of more than 3,100, TMUK’s business supports thousands more jobs in its UK supply chain.