Toyota do Brasil LTDA (TDB) has officially opened its new engine manufacturing facility in the city of Porto Feliz, Brazil. Built on a 872,500m² (9,390,000ft²) plot, the new facility represents an investment of ¥18bn (US$170m) and approximately 320 direct jobs in the region.
With this new manufacturing operation, Toyota reinforces its commitment to the Brazilian economy and increases its support for Latin America and the Caribbean region as a whole. In this, the company remains steadfast to a corporate mission of the betterment of society.
The new Porto Feliz facility is Toyota’s first engine plant in the region. Its capacity to produce up to 108,000 units annually will serve production of Toyota’s 1.3-liter and 1.5-liter NR engines, which come equipped with Dual VVT-I, four cylinders, and Flex Fuel (in which ethanol is mixed into the gasoline). These modern, durable, and efficient engines are used in the new Etios, which is manufactured in Brazil specifically for customers in Latin American and Caribbean (LAC region) markets.
“Toyota remains committed to the growth of the Latin America region. We feel strongly about doing our part to help stimulate the region’s economy,” noted Steve St Angelo, Toyota’s CEO for Latin America and the Caribbean and chairman of Toyota do Brasil. “On top of our regional manufacturing operations in Argentina, Brazil and Venezuela, this new engine facility is testament to Toyota’s long-term strategy aimed at helping Latin America and the Caribbean emerge as a global economic power in the coming decades.”
The new engine facility aims to build plants that incorporate innovative production technology, much in the same vein as the new Toyota Motor Manufacturing Indonesia (TMMIN) Engine plant that officially opened in March this year. This corresponds to Toyota’s overarching goal of building ‘simple, slim, and flexible’ plants around the world. As a result, this new engine facility―while compact―is able to effectively handle fluctuations in demand and to house all aspects of the engine manufacturing process under one roof. Initial investment costs for this efficient new plant and its machinery have even been cut by 40% in contrast with a comparable investment if made in 2008.
With all of this in the planning, Porto Feliz is positioned to be one of Toyota’s most modern plants worldwide. Its compact, flexible and highly efficient production process will make it one of the most competitive in the region.
The utilization of clean and sustainable manufacturing processes was a top priority in the design of the Porto Feliz plant. For example, through the reduction of equipment size and optimization of some processes in the original assembly line, the plant is able to achieve a dramatic reduction in the waste generated from the casting process. The Porto Feliz engine manufacturing facility is one of Toyota’s first outside of Japan to have all three production processes (casting, machining, and assembly) located at a single site.
May 13, 2016