Toyota has announced that it will invest close to a quarter of a billion pounds in its Burnaston production facility near Derby.
The Japanese manufacturer says that the £240m cash injection will be used to upgrade the Burnaston plant to produce a greater variety of new vehicles.
Specifically, the plant will be able to make cars based on Toyota’s new global manufacturing system, while the marque says will improve its competitiveness and promote efficiency in the UK supply chain.
Two Toyota vehicles are produced at Burnaston currently, the Auris hatchback and the Avensis family car, with around 180,000 vehicles manufactured there last year.
Between the Burnaston facility and an engine plant based in Deeside, North Wales, Toyota employs approximately 3,400 British-based workers.
Additional £21.3m worth of government funding
Along with Toyota’s investment, the government will provide an additional £21.3m worth of funding for training, research and development, in order to better enhance the plants’ environmental performance.
Last year, Toyota issued a letter to its British employees, warning them that the impending threat of Brexit could add as much as 10 per cent to the cost of its UK-built cars.
According to sales statistics, almost 90 per cent of the cars Toyota builds in the UK are exported overseas, with roughly three quarters of them going on to be sold within the European Union.
As a result, industry trade body the Society for Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) warned that Brexit could hurt investment in the automotive sector.
However, the news of the new investment will surely come as a reassurance of Toyota’s commitment to its British plants, as well as an assertion of its willingness to stay in the UK market.
