Toyota plant in Saint-Petersburg celebrates Toyota RAV4 line off

A ceremony to commemorate Toyota RAV4 line off was held at Toyota plant in Saint Petersburg. The ceremony was attended by Mr. Mokretsov, Vice-Governor of Saint-Petersburg, Mr. Fukushima, Consul-General of Japan in Saint-Petersburg, heads of Saint-Petersburg committees and representatives of city administration, heads of TMR suppliers and Toyota top management.

RAV4 is the second Toyota model to be produced in Russia in addition to Toyota Camry which has been made there since 2007. The first Toyota RAV4 rolled off Saint Petersburg plant production line on August 22nd, 2016.

The decision to start Toyota RAV4 production at the Toyota plant in Saint Petersburg was made following Toyota's global policy to localize production where demand exists. Toyota RAV4 is consistently one of Toyota bestsellers in Russia and market leader in the C-SUV segment.

RAV4 start of production confirms Toyota's commitment to promote the development of the automotive business in Russia and ensures swift responses to market needs. With the model launch at the Saint Petersburg plant, production of RAV4 includes exclusive series designed specifically for the Russian customers’ needs..

In preparation of RAV4 launch TMR-SP production capacity was successfully doubled from 50,000 to 100,000 vehicles a year. Investment towards this production capacity increase and the new model launch reached 9,7 billion RUR. Thanks to this second model launch 800 new jobs have been created. At this moment about 2350 people are employed at TMR-SP plant.

During the ceremony Executive Manufacturing Director of "Toyota Motor" LCC Yoshinori Matsunaga addressed the ceremony guests and employees: “I would like to use this opportunity and thank our employees for successful RAV4 launch and also for their daily commitment to Toyota quality principles. Our efforts already resulted in high popularity and trust of Russian-made Camry among our customers. We are committed to produce the 2nd RAV4 model of the same high quality here in Saint-Petersburg”.

Speaking about the importance of the Russian market for Toyota, President and CEO of Toyota Motor Europe (Belgium) Dr. Van Zyl commented: “Toyota in Russia plays a key role in our strategy because of the huge industrial potential of this country. When we invest into manufacturing it is for the long term once we’ve judged that the conditions assure a sustainable presence in the country and this is the case of Russia”.