Inaugurated in 1971, with the objective of responding to market growth, the Ovar factory was the Toyota's first production facility in Europe.
Now that Toyota celebrates 50 years of national production, nothing better than recovering the history of the Ovar factory, which plays a central role in defining the identity of the Japanese brand in Portugal.
It all started in 1968, more specifically on February 17th, the day Salvador Caetano I.M.V.T., S.A. signed an exclusive import and distribution contract for Toyota vehicles in Portugal.
And shortly after the beginning of the brand's commercialization in the national territory, in 1971, the first Toyota factory in Europe was brought to Ovar, which since then has produced more than 309,000 units.
It started by producing the Corolla (KE20) and Dyna (commodity vehicle), but in 1979 it started producing the historic Hiace van, whose production continued until 2012, and in 1981 with the Hilux pick-up, which continued to be built there until 1996.
Currently, the Ovar factory has 180 employees and produces — since July 2015 — the Land Cruiser Serie 70, which is exported in its entirety to South Africa.
But this is not the only reason why the paths of the Land Cruiser and the Ovar factory cross, as in the year this production unit celebrates its 50th anniversary, the off-road also celebrates its 70th anniversary.
Remember that the Toyota Land Cruiser was launched on August 1, 1951 and already has more than 10.5 million units produced, some of which on Portuguese soil.
