Toyota SA hits assembly milestone
2012-07-10 07:29
ASSEMBLED IN SA: Toyota's Ses'fikile taxi is now locally assembled at the automaker's Durban plant.
Toyota SA has announced the opening of a Ses’fikile taxi assembly line at its Prospecton plant in Durban after an initial investment of R70-million.
Toyota’s Ses’fikile will now be assembled on a dedicated line where 90 jobs have alredy been created in the start-up phase and a further 210 are expected to be created at suppliers.
The first SA-assembled Ses’fikiles were available at dealers in May, 2012, and featured a number of adjustments – most notably an extra seat to push capacity to 16.
BIG SES'FIKILE PLANS
Johan van Zyl, president and CEO of Toyota SA, said: “Not only is the Ses’fikile an important cog in the national taxi industry, it is also a major volume seller for Toyota in South Africa.
“With this in mind it makes economic sense to localise assembly and reap the benefits of increased investment, job creation and possible downstream supplier development.”
The Ses’fikile will share certain resources with Hino trucks, which are also assembled at Prospecton, and will be exported to Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia and Swaziland.
Toyota’s Hilux, Fortuner and Corolla ranges are manufactured at Prospecton and Toyota SA has plans to add full local production of the Ses’fikile, too.
