The start of a massive asset sale at Toyota Australia’s Altona North plant signals the end of Toyota automobile manufacturing in Australia after more than 50 years.
GraysOnline and Hilco Industrial Acquisitions B.V. are managing the entire machinery and equipment sale process at the 31 hectare Melbourne site.
The initial private treaty sale will be managed by them, starting immediately. The sale is scheduled to run until the plant officially closes on October 3. Upon the closure, GraysOnline will begin a comprehensive online auction of all remaining assets, a process which will continue until the end of February.
The machinery and equipment is extensive and state of the art as the site has produced over 3.4 million Toyota Camry, Aurion and Avalon vehicles – including hybrid automobiles – since 1994. All of these were sold within Australia and for export throughout the Middle East and Asia.
The Altona plant, established in 1978, comprises seven distinct facilities and was once viewed as a marvel of vertical integration in a small market.
In 1994 all Toyota vehicle manufacturing operations in Australia were moved from Port Melbourne to Altona.
The site employed over 2500 workers, producing about 100,000 cars annually using both human capital and 280 welding robots to create a single vehicle.
The equipment offered in the private treaty sale includes all categories of production from powertrain lines, the press shop, the weld shop equipment, the paint shop surface treatment and heat treatment equipment, the resin shop – including plastic paint spraying – and the assembly equipment.
GraysOnline says there has already been substantial interest from global buyers from Asia through to North America.
When the online auctions start late this year, GraysOnline expects strong demand in the manufacturing, workshop and general business assets, given solid auction results experienced in recent months in Australia and globally.
“The scale of the planned online asset sales represents a tremendous opportunity for automotive and other manufacturers across the region and globally, given the extent of Toyota’s operations in Altona,” GraysOnline sales and operations executive general manager Josh Sanders says.
Assets on offer are extremely diverse, including a range of presses, robots, welding units, testing equipment, cranes and other assembly line equipment.
Holden closes its Elizabeth assembly plant in Adelaide on October 20.
Visit www.graysonline.com/toyotaplant for more.
