An explosion at a Toyota provider’s manufacturing unit in Japan has left one employee useless and injured two others, with the flow-on results suspending manufacturing of the favored RAV4 SUV.
Automotive Information experiences an explosion occurred on the Chuo Spring Co. facility in Toyota Metropolis on March 6. Toyota is the spring producer’s largest shareholder.
Whereas the reason for the explosion is but to be decided, this has subsequently resulted in manufacturing pauses for the Toyota RAV4, which is in-built Japan for a number of markets together with Australia.
“We’re searching for additional info from our manufacturing crew in Japan,” a spokesperson for Toyota Australia instructed CarExpert.
“At this stage it’s too quickly to know if this may influence RAV4 manufacturing for Australia.”
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In accordance with Automotive Information, Toyota suspended operations at one among two strains on the Takaoka meeting plant and two strains on the Nagakusa manufacturing unit – each of which produce the RAV4 – on March 10.
All Australian-delivered RAV4s are produced in Japan, with delays in output threatening to unravel Toyota’s projections for its SUV to turn out to be the best-selling automotive regionally this 12 months.
In 2024, the Toyota RAV4 got here an in depth second to the Ford Ranger within the gross sales charts, with robust provide of the SUV within the latter half of the 12 months having been projected to proceed into 2025.
Whereas a new-generation mannequin is predicted to be unveiled this 12 months and go on sale in 2026, Toyota Australia vice-president of gross sales, advertising and franchise operations Sean Hanley mentioned in January the RAV4 may take the gross sales crown in 2025 and past.
“Utes may probably maintain out for an additional 12 months, however past that I don’t suppose so,” mentioned Mr Hanley.
“Final 12 months was the primary time an SUV was Toyota’s best-selling car. For the earlier 9 years it was HiLux.
“We already know the variety of ute fashions accessible to Australian consumers will develop quickly, and they’re going to all be competing for an total ute market that may stay regular… because of this, it could be that an SUV may rise to the highest of the nationwide gross sales charts within the subsequent 12 months or two.
“Simply possibly, that SUV might be a Toyota RAV4 Hybrid.”
Although final 12 months’s run up the gross sales charts was believed to be linked to the clearing of giant order backlogs from earlier years – which stretched to past 24 months for some variants – Toyota has claimed its order books stay robust.
Within the first two months of 2025, Toyota has delivered 9481 RAV4s, a major 87.6 per cent enhance on the identical interval final 12 months, and properly forward of the 8294 Rangers delivered up to now.
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