Toyota Motor Industries Poland in Jelcz-Laskowice has problems. The plant which in 2007 produced 172,000 car engines, will this year produce no more than 110,000 units.
„The company needs to cut production to world markets, especially Toyota plants in the UK and Turkey. In September, the management resigned from one shift. At first, we believed that in November we would work at full capacity again but it did not happen and is not going to happen in the near future”, Grzegorz Gorski from Toyota Poland said.
The plant was founded in 2002. It produces diesel engines used at Toyota Avensis, Auris, Verso and Corolla. It employs 1,000 people.
„There is no job for 200 of them. We do what we can. We organized training for them, some people work in Czech Kolin where 70 percent of our production goes. Next year, some of them will work in our new plant in Walbrzych”, Grzegorz Gorski said.
The company hopes that new models of Toyota plus the government package aimed to support the automotive sector will increase demand for the engines.
Lay-offs are being considered. Toyota second plant, the one in Walbrzych owned by Toyota Motor Manufacturing Poland, is doing much better. It employs 2,000 people and works at full capacity. It will produce 330,000 engines and 570,000 gear boxes, only slightly less than in 2007. The plant is doing well because its production goes for small cars which so far have not been affected by the crisis.
According to AutomotiveSuppliers.pl portal, at least 6,000 people in Poland
will lose their jobs in the automotive sector. In the Czech Republic, as many as
13,500 people will lose their jobs in upcoming weeks.