Toyota doubled profits from its British manufacturing operations last year, demonstrating that its £1.7 billion investment in the UK is finally starting to pay off, the Independent reported.
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The paper said Toyota’s Burnaston car assembly plant near Derby and the Deeside engine factory in North Wales made around £32 million in 2004-05, compared with £16 million the previous year.
This is only the fifth time in the last 14 years that Toyota’s UK operations, which employ a total of 5,500 people, have made a profit, the report noted, adding that, since 1991, Toyota has run up combined losses of £780 million in the UK.
However, its British manufacturing plants are now on target to make sufficient profit to become “self-reliant” from their Japanese parent, the Independent said, contrasting the results with the recent demise of MG Rover and the ongoing losses made by Jaguar and Land Rover.
Sir Alan Jones, chairman of Toyota Motor Manufacturing UK (TMM) reportedly put the improved performance down to increased productivity, a better mix of sales and the strengthening of the euro against the pound.
The Independent said about 85% of Burnaston’s output is exported, mainly to continental Europe, although it has shipped 36,000 cars to Japan in the last two years. The Deeside plant makes about 360,000 engines, half of which go into cars built at Burnaston, the report added.
