STATE and territory governments will be encouraged to increase the number of Australian-made vehicles in their fleets, Prime Minister Julia Gillard said during her visit to Altona’s Toyota plant last week.
The visit came as Toyota Australia officially opened its state-of-the art engine plant, becoming the first Australian car manufacturer to make both petrol and hybrid engines.
Ms Gillard described it as “a red-letter day for blue collar workers”.
She said the government would appoint William Angove as the first ‘automotive supplier advocate’ to boost sales of Australian-made cars to government and business fleets, and to work with the automotive industry to win new markets.
Toyota’s Altona plant will make about 108,000 four-cylinder, 2.5-litre engines a year for its locally-built Camry and Camry Hybrid sedans, exporting about 15 per cent of them to Thailand and Malaysia.
Industry and Innovation Minister Greg Combet, who described the hybrid Camry as “the best car I’ve ever had”, said Mr Angove, a former Ford executive, would be tasked with lifting the level of Australian-manufactured vehicles in private and government fleets.
“Between the Commonwealth, Victorian and South Australian governments, about 77 per cent of their fleets are Australian-manufactured vehicles.
“But when you look around at other states like Queensland or Western Australia or New South Wales, the level of Australian manufactured vehicles in those fleets is significantly lower — in the order of 40 or 44 per cent.”
Before entering Parliament, Mr Combet was a union negotiator for the industrial agreement at the Altona plant.
The Australian Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries said new-vehicle sales jumped to 98,347 in November, compared with 88,654 in the same month last year.
Toyota retained first place on the sales ladder with 19.6 per cent of the market.
Toyota Australia president and CEO Max Yasuda said Australia was one of only four countries in the world to produce the AR four-cylinder engine, and Toyota was the first Australian car manufacturer to produce petrol-electric hybrid engines.
“The new engine plant is a significant milestone for Toyota Australia,” he said.
“It enables us to maintain our workforce and further develop our technologies, skills and products so we can continue building engines and cars in Australia for many years to come.
“An ongoing partnership between local car makers, the government and suppliers is fundamental for ensuring Australian industry can compete.”
The federal government contributed $63 million to the new engine plant, which is expected to go into full production next month, producing about 450 engines per day.
