Toyota SA opens R363m distribution centre

TOYOTA South Africa Motors’ R363 million investment in a new parts distribution warehouse in Kempton Park and recent investment of R70m in the local assembly of the Ses’fikile taxi in Durban represent the first two steps in its new “full-scale investment programme”.

Johan van Zyl, Toyota SA’s president and group chief executive, confirmed this yesterday at the official opening of the first phase of the parts distribution warehouse, but declined to comment on the company’s future investment plans.

“As they get approved, we will make the announcement.

“There are quite a few coming,” he said.

He said the new facility “builds a very good foundation for our next [investment] phase because one of its key success factors over the past 32 years had been its ability to offer exceptional customer service and product support”.

Although the minibus assembly line and the parts distribution warehouse involved relatively small investments, these investments were significant in many ways.

The first phase of the plan to localise the production of Quantum and Ses’fikile minibuses resulted in the first locally assembled Quantum rolling off a dedicated line at its production plant in Prospecton.

These investments followed Toyota SA’s R8 billion, five-year investment programme that grew its plant to a capacity of 220 000 units a year, funded the construction of a new paint facility and generally upgraded its facilities.

The two new investments were still significant because they signalled Toyota SA’s continued support for full-scale vehicle manufacturing and export in South Africa and was “step one and step two in our new full scale investment programme that will build on the previous programme’s success”.