Toyota South Africa Motors (TSAM) is a key component of South Africa’s automotive manufacturing sector. Toyota has been a well-loved, reliable and trusted brand in South Africa since 1961. The company plays a pivotal role in driving economic growth and creating employment.

TSAM is wholly owned by Toyota Motor Corporation (TMC) in Japan. As such it is guided by the vision and strategy of its parent company.

The company has been the beneficiary of ongoing investment since its manufacturing inception in 1972 when TSAM started operations at Prospecton near Durban. TSAM is committed to South Africa by strategically investing in the people, tools and equipment to produce cars and commercial vehicles of world-class standard.

TSAM strives continuously to improve systems and technologies to deliver the best quality vehicles to customers, vehicles that meet customers; needs and their high expectations of what the Toyota brand epitomises. In addition, TSAM is dedicated and committed to supplying parts, accessories and services that meet the requirements of the South African and export markets that it services.

The equipment and facilities used for manufacturing vehicles at TSAM forms part of TMC’s global production lines, which are characterised by high levels of industrial automation and robotics, often found in developed manufacturing ecosystems such as Japan, North America and Europe.

Furthermore, TSAM has followed global trends concerning the 4th Industrial Revolution (4IR) and transitioned significant areas of its plant towards more complex and sophisticated digital equipment with the objective of enhancing the plant’s effectiveness and efficiency.

TSAM has a fully equipped robotics and automation training facility in Durban. This facility will train technicians in the maintenance of complex manufacturing equipment, such as welding and spray-painting robots.

Value Chain
TSAM imports over 22 models from its global Toyota affiliates, and all Lexus models are imported from manufacturing plants in Japan. They also export vehicles to 75 countries throughout Africa, Europe and Latin America and its vehicles are distributed regionally through a network of independently owned and run dealerships in South Africa, Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia and Swaziland. These include full dealership and satellite services.

Toyota collaborates with its value chain partners to ensure that its vehicles stay true to the Toyota, Lexus and Hino brands. This enables them to ensure that all components meet high quality standards and are delivered on time and in full. The dealer network is critical in delivering on their customer-first promise.

Therefore, TSAM believes that a large part of its success is attributed to the way its value chain collaborates and engages to form an integrated ecosystem – from parts suppliers to manufacturing, sales, its dealer network and its valued customers or guests.

Employees
TSAM’s employees are the custodians of the Toyota Way. They support continuous improvement through training and development, providing on-site, hands on experience (Genchi Genbutsu) and taking each challenge as an opportunity to learn and grow.

Training is the key to the success of TSAM and is therefore all-encompassing; from assembly-line team members to dealer personnel. This does not only involve skills transfer, but also extends to ‘imbibing’ the Toyota culture of a caring company, transformation in the work place and development of a well-trained, integrated supply chain.

TSAM is fostering a working environment based on the culture of Mendomi, which means that they take care of employees like they would take care of their own family.

Social Programmes
TSAM cares for all members of society and aims to make it a better place. They commit time and resources to developing all South Africans by empowering and uplifting local communities through impactful and measurable social programmes. The social contribution activities are aligned with TMC’s Global Vision of contributing to the sustainable advancement of the societies in which it operates.

The corporate social responsibility (CSR) programme was established in 1972 by Dr Albert Wessels with a focus to offer training and support to communities closest to their production plant and offices.

TSAM is committed to build a better future for our children, communities and country. CSR has four pillars that are focused on, namely education; road safety; civic and community service; and health and human service. They believe that focusing on these four pillars will make a positive, sustainable and long-term difference to their business, communities and the SA economy.

TSAM is represented in communities through the TSA Foundation, its CSR department, employee involvement and in-kind donations. They aim to support the communities that are within a 50km radius of their operations. This ensures localised, focused and impactful initiatives are addressed to target specific needs of the societies in which they operate.