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The final Australian-built Toyota Aurion large car rolled down the automaker’s Altona production line last week ahead of the full closure of the Victorian facility, which also builds the Camry, next month.
After 11 years of production the Aurion racked up a build tally of 180,000 units across two generations, divided between 110,000 for local consumption with a further 70,000 exported.
The first generation Aurion was launched at the Melbourne Motor Show in 2006 as a replacement for the ageing Avalon sedan - a version of a hand-me-down US design drafted into to duty to give Toyota a competitor for the Holden Commodore and Ford Falcon.
The more up-to-date Aurion was designed by Toyota’s Australian office in Melbourne by the current design chief, Nick Hogios. Using the Camry V6 as a starting point, the Aurion featured unique front sheet metal, with changes to the rear bumper, lights, and boot lid to give it a more substantial appearance.
To cap off local production the last Aurion was a flagship Presara grade model finished in Crystal Pearl white. Rather than being kept as a memento, the last Aurion was collected from the Altona plant by a Melbourne-based dealer who will sell the car.
The final Aurion comes as part of a phased production shutdown for the Altona factory ahead of the Toyota’s full withdrawal of local assembly operations with the last locally built Camry Hybrid model set for a September production slot before the very last petrol-powered models roll down the line in October.
Toyota won’t replace the Aurion with a next-generation model. Instead the imported Camry which is set to arrive in November, will reintroduce a V6 engine option to sell alongside petrol and petrol-electric hybrid models.
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2 Comments
I remember attending the launch of the Aurion in Coffs Harbour. I still have the media launch DVD! I was impressed at how smooth it was and had plenty of poke. There was a big media conference after the drive with all the Japanese head honchos there. I was only a new motoring journo then and was curious as to why nobody had asked the question - "Isn't it a Camry with a V6?" I was told by a seasoned journo that if anyone asked that they would be 'blacklisted' by Toyota Australia!
If only they had a send off with a special edition supercharged v6