Toyota moves to start operations
FLOODS: KZN PLANT WAS EXTENSIVELY DAMAGED
Existing orders will be prioritised, the company said.
Toyota South Africa Motors (TSAM) indicated on Friday it is still unable to confirm when production will resume at its plant in KwaZulu-Natal following extensive damage caused by the recent floods.
Production at the Prospecton plant south of Durban has been suspended since 11 April and TSAM said it was implementing a systematic and meticulous phased plan to return its plant to working condition.
The company said clean-up operations are progressing at a pace in different areas, with the first three phases including:
The establishment of temporary utilities at the plant; Cleaning up; and
Powering up the machinery. TSAM said once the trial power-up stage is reached, certain areas of the facility will then move to phase four for an accurate assessment and equipment check.
TSAM president and CEO Andrew Kirby said it was only once they commenced with this phase that they’d “be able to adequately judge the realistic lead time” to resume production.
“As you can imagine, there will be a mountain of repairs to be made, along with many parts that will need to be ordered,” he said.
“It would therefore be irresponsible of us to call a start-up date until we have the full picture. We anticipate firming up dates within the next week.”
Rival’s speculation
A senior executive of a rival local vehicle manufacturer has claimed production at TSAM’s Prospecton plant will only resume in about four months. The executive claimed the floods had caused an estimated R2.8 billion in damage to the plant.
TSAM did not respond directly to a request from Moneyweb more than a week ago to confirm or deny these claims and to a number of other questions.
TSAM senior vice-president Leon Theron confirmed delivery of locally-built models will be impacted in the short term, but said plans had been put into place to prioritise existing orders. “Yes, Hilux, Fortuner, Corolla Cross and Quest orders are going to take a little longer but please be assured that they will be filled the moment our new supply kicks in.
“As far as imported models go, it’s business as usual. In fact, we have requested extra units to compensate for the temporary lack of availability of locally-built models,” he said.
Theron singled out parent company Toyota Motor Corporation (TMC) of Japan for its swift response. “TSAM’s recovery is currently the number-one priority for TMC, as demonstrated by more than 50 maintenance and engineering experts on site, with more arriving next week.”
The suspension of production has had knock-on effects on its suppliers. The National Association of Automotive Component and Allied Manufacturers executive director Renai Moothilal confirmed last month component suppliers had been impacted and several had shut down.
JSE-listed automotive components and energy storage solutions manufacturer Metair Investments, a major supplier to TSAM, declined to comment on the impact on their operations.
Metair’s management instead said in a statement the direct impact of the flooding on its operations had been minimal, with no real damage to facilities. However, without mentioning TSAM, Metair confirmed its operations have not been running optimally “due to flood recovery efforts... at our major customer”.