Toyota South Africa Motors (TSAM) says it is following a “systematic and meticulously phased plan” to restart production at its Prospecton assembly plant, south of Durban, after the facility suffered extensive flood damage two weeks ago.

TSAM says the approach is designed to ensure a safe start-up, without any potential secondary issues. 

Clean-up operations are progressing at pace, notes the local arm of the Japanese manufacturer.

The first three phases in the return-to-production plan include the establishment of temporary utilities at the plant, cleaning up and then powering up the machinery. 

Once the trial power-up stage is reached, certain areas of the facility will be able to move to phase four, which involves “an accurate assessment and equipment check”.   

“It is only once we commence with this phase that we will be able to adequately judge the realistic lead time to resume production,” says TSAM president and CEO Andrew Kirby.

“As you can imagine, there will be a mountain of repairs to be made along with many parts that will need to be ordered. It would, therefore, be irresponsible of us to call a start-up date until we have the full picture. We anticipate firming up dates within the next week.”

Kirby expresses his gratitude for the support Toyota has received from its dealers, suppliers, local and national government, as well as its staff. 

He singles out parent company Toyota Motor Corporation (TMC) for its swift response to this emergency.

“TSAM’s recovery is currently the number-one priority for TMC as demonstrated by more than 50 maintenance and engineering experts on site, with more arriving next week.”

On the sales front, TSAM senior VP Leon Theron confirms that while delivery of locally built models will be impacted in the short term, plans have been put into place to prioritise existing orders.

“We really appreciate the patience exhibited by our customers. Yes, [locally made] Hilux, Fortuner, Corolla Cross and Quest orders are going to take a little longer, but please be assured that they will be filled the moment our new supply kicks in. 

“As far as imported models go, it’s business as usual. In fact, we have requested extra units to compensate for the temporary lack of availability on locally built models.”