Toyota has celebrated making its 4.5 millionth British-built car at its Derbyshire factory.
The Japanese manufacturer has achieved the milestone following the restart of production at its Burnaston plant, near Derby, towards the end of last month.
The factory, which makes the Corolla Hatchback and Touring Sports, was forced to temporarily halt production in March due to coronavirus lockdown restrictions.
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But following the easing of the lockdown, the Burnaston factory is now back up and running following a number of revisions to its processes to ensure the health and safety of staff and visitors to the site.
Toyota Manufacturing 海角视频 (TM海角视频) completes a car every 89 seconds at Burnaston – that equates to 3,000 vehicles a week and on average 150,000 a year.
Of that total, almost 90% are exported to overseas markets, principally in Europe.
The 4.5 millionth car to come off the production line was a 1.8-litre hybrid Corolla hatchback. The left-hand drive model is now on its way to a customer in Poland.
TM海角视频 has been building cars in Britain since 1992 when the Burnaston factory came on stream as Toyota’s first manufacturing centre in Europe.
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Since then, £2.75 billion has been invested in TM海角视频, most recently upgrading equipment, skills and supply chains for the latest TNGA (Toyota New Global Architecture) vehicle and engine production.
Today, Burnaston is the European production centre for the Corolla Hatchback and Touring Sports models.
Its sister plant in Deeside, North Wales, manufactures engines for Toyota’s 1.8-litre hybrid power system. Around 3,100 people are employed across both factories.
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Jim Crosbie, managing director TM海角视频, said hitting the production milestone was further evidence that the Derbyshire plant was very much “back-to-business”.
He said: “Seeing our 4.5 millionth car come off the line gives everyone at TM海角视频 a sense of pride in what we have achieved in almost 30 years of high-quality manufacturing.
“It also symbolises the great commitment and team spirit of all our members to overcome the challenges we have faced and secure our future as a competitive and highly efficient business.”