Toyota U.K. has done what has never been tried by any auto manufacturer ever before. This is a moment of pride for Toyota

An unprecedented challenge had been taken by Toyota U.K. of planning, building and delivering two new models at the same time and luckily, they have met it with all means. And the result is just marvellous, brand new Auris and Avensis, first time built outside Japan.

The Burnaston factory started production

To 130 miles northwest of London, is the Burnaston factory, a production facility of Toyota, has recently started the simultaneous production of Toyota Auris and Toyota Avensis. Both of these models are the backbone of brand’s European sales, and this is the first time they are trying producing them outside Japan.

New Auris

The brilliant part of this production facility is that all the versions of both of these cars are going to share the same teams, same production line, from beginning till final assembly. The body styles will be Avensis saloon, Auris hatchback and Touring Sports wagon while they will be coming in petrol, diesel and hybrid versions.

Building zero to 800 new cars a day

In 2013, they started the preparations when the plans were put in place for the significant changes to both the vehicle ranges. In this whole process, it was suggested that in the space of just 10 days, the Derbyshire factory had to accelerate its production from building zero to 800 new cars a day.

Usually, to compensate the vehicles built in the production line when the outgoing models slow down, the new ones take place and the number of cars fairly stay consistent that leaves the production line, says Jon Corpe, Project Manager.

New Avensis

How do they prepare the workforce in such short time?

To prepare the members of the workforce, the company has sent them to Japan and Brussels, and to use the models in training, testing and product evaluation, Burnaston built 91 of them in December.

To facilitate the new models production, a changeover was required, that mean the whole lot of new equipment and new ways of working to be put in place. The plastics and assembly shops got the greatest level of changes. The press, weld and paint shops also got jigs and new tooling to provide better support for body manufacturing and painting. To accommodate the production of three new Euro 6 emissions standard engines required radical changes in the plant.

With deliveries starting later this month, the all-new Avensis is on sale now. For new Auris, the order books will open on July 1 and the deliveries will start from September.