Toyotas Engine Plant to live on.

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No matter what you think of them this is good for Australia and our disappearing manufacturing sector.

http://theage.drive.com.au/motor-new...ml?autostart=1

Toyota's $300m engine project to save 30,000 jobs
Steve Colquhoun
September 10, 2010 - 1:05PM

Toyota will invest $300 million building next-generation Camry engines in Melbourne that will save 3300 existing jobs.

Up to 30,000 automotive industry jobs in Australia have been secured by Toyota’s announcement today of a new $300 million engine plant, says Federal Innovation Minster Kim Carr.

The plant will produce engines for both the Camry sedan and its hybrid equivalent from mid-2012 in a move Mr Carr said would anchor Australia’s automotive industry for ‘‘years to come’’.

Mr Carr said it was also expected to deliver ‘‘significant potential’’ to export the four-cylinder engine to countries around the world.

While the announcement brought immediate job security to 320 engine plant workers beyond 2012, Toyota’s 4500-strong local workforce and its network of local suppliers would also benefit from greater certainty, Mr Carr said.

"It will underpin 30,000 jobs in this country. That’s 4500 direct employees times seven, which is the rule of thumb,’’ Mr Carr said.

‘‘We are building today, though this announcement, a long-term commitment to automotive manufacturing in Australia. It’s yet another reminder that the industry is here to stay.’’

Victorian Premier John Brumby said Toyota’s Altona manufacturing base would be in a more tenuous position if the company had not committed to the engine plant and manufacturing the Hybrid Camry, which started production earlier this year.

‘‘I think you would have seen a measureable and gradual decline of this facility over time as more and more components were imported and fewer people were employed,’’ he said.

The federal government will contribute $63 million to the project through its Green Car Innovation Fund, while the Victorian government would add an unspecified ‘‘double-digit’’ figure, Premier John Brumby said.

The new plant will have the capacity to produce up to 110,000 Camry engines per year, including up to 20,000 for the locally built Hybrid Camry.

The new 2.4-litre four-cylinder petrol engine destined for the Hybrid Camry will use 4.5 per cent less fuel and produce 5 per cent fewer tailpipe emissions than the current imported Hybrid Camry engine.

Toyota said the new engine plant would open up ‘‘significant’’ export opportunities, but declined to comment further.

It currently does not export the Hybrid Camry, which was launched earlier this year with a domestic sales target of 10,000 cars - leaving room for exports of up to 10,000 of the hybrid engines. It has exported more than 63,000 non-hybrid Camrys to 20 countries this year.

The engine plant announcement caps a tumultuous week for the world’s leading car maker. On Wednesday, Toyota Australia announced the latest in an embarrassing series of product recalls involving more than 116,000 HiLux utes.