Starting this year, the Burnaston facility will be upgraded with new equipment, technologies and systems to enable the production of vehicles on the Toyota New Global Architecture (TNGA) platform.
TNGA was announced by Toyota in September 2015 as a way to streamline the way the company designs, engineers and manufactures vehicles by standardising the size and position of key components within standard new vehicle platforms.
According to Toyota, the long-term benefits are predicted to be smaller, flexible factories with production lines that can quickly and easily be adapted to meet different manufacturing requirements.
Dr Johan van Zyl, president and CEO of Toyota Motor Europe, said: “We are very focused on securing the global competitiveness of our European plants.
“The roll-out of TNGA manufacturing capability is part of this plan. This upgrade of TMUK is a sign of confidence in our employees and suppliers and their focus on superior quality and greater efficiency.
“Our investment demonstrates that, as a company, we are doing all we can to raise the competitiveness of our Burnaston plant in Derbyshire. Continued tariff-and-barrier free market access between the UK and Europe that is predictable and uncomplicated will be vital for future success.”
By 2020, the majority of Toyota’s global models will be built using TNGA platforms. TNGA already underpins the new, fourth generation Prius and the all-new, Toyota C-HR crossover, which is built in Turkey.
Today’s announcement also includes up to £21.3m, subject to independent assessment and due diligence, from the UK government for training, research and development.
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I'd like to know where these are operating in the UK. The report is notably light on this. I wonder why?