Burnaston launches new Corolla after £240m investment
The Toyota Corolla, the best-selling car nameplate in motoring history, is back in production in the East Midlands.
An official ceremony has taken place at Toyota Manufacturing UK’s (TMUK) car plant at Burnaston, near Derby, to mark the start of production of the new Hatchback and Touring Sports wagon/estate models. They are the 12th generation of a model range that first took to the road in 1966. Since then, more than 46 million vehicles bearing the Corolla badge have been sold worldwide.
Toyota’s UK operations are the exclusive European production centre for the new Corolla. Toyota invested £240m in upgrading the factory to bring it up to speed.
The Burnaston factory has been operating since 1992 and is supported by a Toyota engine plant in Deeside, North Wales. It has built Carina, Avensis and Auris models and, for some years, an earlier Corolla hatchback model.
At the ceremony the TMUK workforce was joined by VIPs and dignitaries, including Dr Johan van Zyl, president and CEO of Toyota Motor Europe, Hiroki Nakajima, executive vice president and concurrent chief engineer, mid-size vehicle company, Toyota Motor Corporation, The Rt Hon Greg Clark MP, the UK Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, and His Excellency Mr Koji Tsuruoka, Japanese Ambassador to the United Kingdom.
Dr van Zyl said: “TMUK was our first major manufacturing enterprise in Europe and we have invested more than £2.75 billion in its operations since 1992. As part of our strategy to secure the competitiveness of our UK operations, we took the decision last year to upgrade our Burnaston plant to manufacture cars based on the new TNGA platform.
“The highly qualified workforce at TMUK has a fine record of delivering superior quality products. Our continued investments, combined with the dedication of our members, will ensure that we can deliver ever better cars to our customers.
“The new Corolla will play a critical role in our market ambitions in Europe. It delivers the benefits of the new TNGA platform and increases the appeal of our market-leading self-charging hybrid technology.”
Marvin Cooke, TMUK managing director, said: “This is a proud day for everyone at TMUK, making the new TNGA Corolla is a major milestone in our production history.
“This is a real sign of confidence in the capabilities of our workforce and in TMUK as a centre for world-class manufacturing. We will continue to deliver the highest level of quality products to our customers.”
The new Corolla will be the first Toyota model in Europe to offer customers the choice of two hybrid powertrains: an upgraded 1.8 litre engine that is manufactured at our Deeside engine plant in North Wales, and a new, more powerful 2.0-litre hybrid powertrain.”
The new Corolla Hatchback and Touring Sports will be launched commercially across Europe from February 2019.
