The Toyota HiLux has been Australia’s top-selling vehicle for the past five years in a row and is on track for a record sixth win if it can hold off a late sales surge by the Ford Ranger.
But what many customers may not realise is that the flagship models – the luxury-focused Toyota HiLux Rogue and the off-road focused Toyota HiLux Rugged X – have their finishing touches applied in Australia, and are fitted with locally-engineered components.
Both vehicles are equipped with extra features designed, engineered, and torture-tested locally.
The Rugged X gains the most extra features, such as a bull bar with LED lighting, a new grille, snorkel, heavy-duty sports bar, heavy-duty tow hooks, rock sliders, and a more robust steel rear bumper.
The Rogue is fitted with an electronically-controlled roller shutter ute tub cover, and marine-grade carpet in the tray.
The Toyota HiLux Rogue and Toyota HiLux Rugged X – which account for about 10 per cent of all HiLux sales in Australia – are shipped in a partially complete form from the factory in Thailand before going through a final assembly process inside Toyota Australia’s technology centre in Altona, the former Toyota Camry factory site which has since been refurbished.
It’s a similar process to the upgrades applied to the Nissan Navara Pro-4X Warrior (by former Ford Performance Vehicles engineering firm, Premcar) and to the Volkswagen Amarok W580 (by former Holden Special Vehicles engineering firm, the Walkinshaw Automotive Group) – both of which are also based in final assembly facilities in Melbourne’s outer suburbs.
As is the case with all utes that receive upgrades in Australia, the extra stop-over adds some time to the delivery process.
In the case of the Toyota HiLux Rogue and Rugged X, they need to make a detour to the Toyota technology centre before the completed vehicles are transported to dealers across Australia.
While Toyota stopped manufacturing cars in Australia in 2017 (the same year Holden ended production, and one year after Ford), Toyota says it has brought some of its manufacturing prowess to the Toyota HiLux Rogue and Rugged X final assembly facility.
In a rare behind-the-scenes look, here is an insight into how the Toyota HiLux Rogue and Rugged X are transformed locally, and what Toyota is doing to try to reduce showroom waiting times.
How many vehicles are processed a day and what is the split between Rugged X and Rogue?
Toyota’s technology centre is currently producing 25 vehicles per day – 14 HiLux Rogue, 11 HiLux Rugged X, however the split can vary based on demand.
How many vehicles does Toyota Australia plan to ramp-up to per day – and annually – from next year?
From February 2022, Toyota’s technology centre is ramping-up to complete 32 vehicles per day – 18 HiLux Rogue and 14 HiLux Rugged X.
How long does it take to complete the fit-out of the bullbar on the Rugged X?
The bullbar fitment time is 5.2 minutes. The fitment of other components make up the 17 minutes taken at that station, known as the ‘Takt time’. Each station is set to the same Takt time.
To reduce the Takt time to 13 minutes next year, it will require the rebalancing of the work at all the stations, as well as additional labour to be distributed across all the stations.
Is the assembly area air-conditioned?
Toyota’s technology centre production facility is air-conditioned and humidity controlled, which helps to maintain consistent air temperatures, to aid decal adhesion in a consistent climate.
How many Rogue and Rugged X vehicles are processed each year currently at Toyota’s technology centre?
Currently the facility is on track to produce 4680 vehicles in 2021.
How many people are employed at the Rogue and Rugged X facility?
There are 51 employees in total currently, including six Toyota employees to manage and oversee the operations. There are eight staff employed by EGR to produce the HiLux Rogue’s electronically-controlled roller cover. And there are approximately 36 contract staff from Autocare that work on site.
How long does it take to complete a Rogue and Rugged X from start to finish once it begins the final assembly process?
It takes a total of 427 minutes of labour to build a Rugged X. When the cycle time changes, this total labour time will remain unchanged, it will just mean that additional labour resources will be used to reduce the time spent at each station.
And it takes a total of 252 mins of labour to build a Rogue vehicle. When the cycle time changes, this total labour time will also remain unchanged. Like the Rugged X, it will just mean that additional labour resources will be used to reduce the time spent at each station.
Keyword: Toyota HiLux Rogue and Rugged X: Behind-the-scenes look at how HiLux hero models come to life