Ovar, the first production facility in Europe to build Toyota vehicles, has just assembled its final Hiace vans and passenger vans.

Toyota Caetano Portugal SA (Toyota Caetano) operates the Ovar plant. The company began licensed assembly of Toyotas in 1971. The first Hiace was built there in 1979 with a production peak for the nameplate in 1982 (6,643 units assembled).

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A spokesperson for Toyota Caetano has told just-auto that only 152 units of the aged van have been made at Ovar since 1 January and only 304 in 2011. There has been a steady decline in build numbers since a highpoint of 1,795 recorded in 2000.

“The Hiace model represents [an] average of 7% of the total production in the last 10 years, since we also produce the light truck – Toyota Dyna, the main model”, the spokesperson added.

A PSA-supplied replacement for Toyota Motor Europe’s Hiace will be launched in relevant markets in 2013, the division announced earlier this week. The model name for that vehicle is yet to be revealed.

Author: Glenn Brooks

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