A R55 million investment in a new truck plant for Hino trucks in Prospecton, near Durban, is confirmation of the importance of these commercial vehicles to Toyota SA.

This was the message from Toyota SA’s president and CEO Dr Johan van Zyl at the official opening of the relocated assembly plant.

“This latest investment in the truck plant is only part of recent investment in local production, with more than R1-billion having been spent on production facilities in Prospecton over the past couple of years. Hino is a strong brand and in South Africa the truck segment of the market is seen as a good growth opportunity, both in the domestic and export markets.”

The new assembly plant currently has an annual production capacity of 5 000 units on a single shift and this can be increased significantly as demand grows. The number of people employed at this plant and its related support functions currently stands at over 160 team members.

Said van Zyl, “The move to the new facility took place during shutdown at the end of last year and enabled us to implement a new assembly principle called the Jundate Principle. This allows for sub components to be assembled away from the main assembly line. Once these parts are assembled they are delivered in sequence to the line JIT (just in time) to be fitted to the unit on line with benefits in terms of both productivity and quality.”

Concluding, “At present the trucks produced here – all the Hino models as well as Toyota Dyna – are for the domestic market and neighbouring countries only. Hino trucks for other markets in Africa are imported from Japan, with many passing through South Africa to have bodies and special equipment fitted. A switch to local production for some of these export markets could occur in the future.”