Toyota likely to shut Australian factories by 2018

The fate of auto manufacturing in Australia may have been decided by bad timing and as few as four factory workers. The results of an Australian federal court case filed by those employees mean that Toyota will likely shut its factory doors in 2018 when the current-generation Camry’s lifespan comes to an end.

According to News.com.au, Toyota wanted to renegotiate union contracts to reduce the cost of building cars in two Australian plants. It estimates that each car built in Oz cost the parent company $3400 more than it would in other Toyota factories, a figure similar to what GM claimed when citing its reasons for pulling out.

At issue was a clause that allowed Toyota to renegotiate union contracts if a majority of workers agreed. In the case brought forth by the four employees, the courts ruled that Toyota could not renegotiate until the contract came to its natural expiration in March 2015.

That, however, may prove too late, as a decision on whether to import or locally manufacture the next generation Camry will have to be made in 2014. The fact that Ford and GM have both announce departures from Australian manufacturing has put tremendous pressure on local suppliers and only exacerbated the urgency.

Toyota said it may appeal the decision, but the case could have provided Toyota Australia with the perfect justification for closing its factories down under.

<![CDATA[
/* @Himanshu 09-01-2013 New code to work with br tag, p tag and /n */
div.post-content1{
color: #000000;
font-family: Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;
font-size: 15px;
line-height: 1.333em;
margin-bottom: 16px;
margin-top: 10px;
}
/* @Himanshu 09-01-2013 New code to work with br tag, p tag and /n */
div.post-content1{
color: #000000;
font-family: Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;
font-size: 15px;
line-height: 1.333em;
margin-bottom: 16px;
margin-top: 10px;
}
/* @Himanshu 09-01-2013 New code to work with br tag, p tag and /n */
div.post-content1 ul
{
list-style:disc;
margin-left:20px;
color:#000000;
}
div.post-content1 ol
{
list-style-type: decimal;
margin-left:20px;
color:#000000;

}
#editorial_graph ul li
{
list-style:none !important;
margin-left:0px;
}
]]>