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Johannesburg - The KwaZulu-Natal provincial government on Tuesday said it would work with Toyota SA to strengthen the automobile sector in South Africa.
The Toyota Durban manufacturing plant had an annual production capacity of about 220 000 units and contributed in the creation of more than 8 000 jobs in both Durban and Johannesburg, KwaZulu-Natal premier Senzo Mchunu said at the official launch of the new Toyota Corolla at Durban’s Prospecton.
Toyota announced at the ceremony that it had invested R1bn in the manufacturing facility to produce a new model Toyota Corolla.
The ceremony was attended by Mchunu, mayor of the Ethekwini metropole James Nxumalo, representatives of Toyota Motor Corporation, TSAM, labour unions and staff.
The new model would be built in left hand and right hand drive variants and it would be available both for local and export markets, Toyota spokesperson Leo Kok said in a statement.
Mchunu said that despite the National Association of Automobile Association statistics which showed that the January sales of the new vehicle declined by 19% from January last year, government believed that the new vehicle presented "a new era of prosperity for the automobile industry in the province and the country as a whole.
“Despite this decline, as the provincial government we believe that this province has an important role to play in terms of ensuring the growth of the automotive industry for many years to come."
Mchuni said the provincial government was considering establishing an automotive supplier park at the old Durban International Airport, which is near the Toyota plant. Toyota SA produced its one millionth Corolla in December last year.
