Toyota Motor Manufacturing France to start 3-shift operations in june 2014 to meet Yaris demand
- Success of Yaris sales, particularly Yaris Hybrid, lead to increased production plan of 15% to 220,000 units for calendar year 2014
- 500 additional staff to be recruited, bringing total employment to 4,000
Toyota Motor Manufacturing France (TMMF), originally built to operate on two shifts, announced today that it will start operating a third production shift at its Valenciennes site from June 2014 in order to meet increased demand for its two products, the Toyota Yaris and the Toyota Yaris Hybrid.
The three-shift operation will require an increase in manpower by 500 production employees, which will bring total employment at TMMF to more than 4,000.
Until the third shift is in place, some Saturday production is planned to meet demand.
"Sales forecasts have led us to increase production plans by around 15% for 2014, for a total production volume of around 220,000 units," confirmed Koreatsu Aoki, President of TMMF.
The additional manpower will be recruited as temporary staff. Employees from the two day shifts will also move to staff up the third night shift on a voluntary basis.
"TMMF will produce close to 1100 Yaris per day on three shifts versus 840 on two shifts today," said Luciano Biondo, Senior Vice President of Manufacturing. "This new organisation demonstrates the success of the "Made-in-France" Yaris on a very competitive segment."
"The new members will follow a 4-week training programme, which can turn into an official professional qualification," said Alain Van Vyve, Vice President of Administration. "This third shift is excellent news for jobs in the Valenciennes region of France, and will contribute to improve a local and regional economy that is still fragile," he added.
TMMF had operated on three shifts in the past, in 2004 and then from 2006 to 2010 and again in 2012. The plant's flexibility allows adjusting shift patterns to meet demand when required by the market.
###About Toyota Motor Manufacturing France:Toyota Motor Manufacturing France, is the home of the Toyota Yaris and Yaris Hybrid and is located in Onnaing, near Valenciennes, in the North of France. It started operations on 31 January 2001. The plant produces Yaris for the European market and exports part of its production to North America. TMMF has built more than 2.4 million Yaris since the start, 84% of which are exported from France on average. TMMF employs 3600 people on 2 shifts. Investment to date at the plant is more than 1 billion euros. TMMF is also one of the cleanest production sites in France with continuously improving environmental performance.