477
1 INTRODUCTION
Theautomotiveindustryisoneofthemostimportant
sections of global economy.In2012therewere81,1
million vehicles produced and among them there
were 63,1 million passenger cars. The production
value in 2011 amounted to 718,7 billion euro [1].
MostcarsareproducedinJapan,Germanyandthe
USA(Table1).
Table1.Productionofpassengercars(inthousandunits)[2]
_______________________________________________
CountryYear2012
_______________________________________________
Japan 8553,6
Germany 5377,0
UnitedStates
4106,4
_______________________________________________
International Organizat
ion of Motor Vehicle
Manufacturing (OICA) estimates that if the
automotiveindustrywasanindependentcountry,it
would be the world’s sixth largest economy.
Approximately 12 million people are directly
employedinproductionof80millionvehicles,what
accountsfor5percentoftotalemploymentlevel[3].
JapanesecompanyToyotaisoneofthebiggestcar
manufacturers in the world. As of the end of
December 2012 Toyota conducted it
s business
worldwide with 52 overseas manufacturing
companies in 27 countries and regions. Toyota
vehicles are sold in more than 160 countries and
regions [4]. This is why this company has been
chosen as an example of perfect logist
ic processes
realization,inthiscasedistributionlogisticsutilizing
maritimetransportandseaports.
2 MARITIMETRANSPORTINCAR
DISTRIBUTIONLOGISTICS
The main goal of distribution logistics in the
automotiveindustryistodelivercars(orspareparts)
to the clients in specific place, in specific ti
me,
according to agreed upon conditions and for
acceptableprice.Thedistributioncostsoughttobeas
smallaspossibleandthequalityofservicesatisfying
tothecustomers.
Using Seaports in Distribution Logistics of Cars on the
Example of the Toyota Company
Z.Łukasik&A.M.Wąsowicz
UniversityofTechnologyandHumanities,Radom,Poland
ABSTRACT:Themaritimetransportisanelementoftheintermodaltransport,whichmakesthedistribution
processofautomotiveindustrymoreefficient.Thearticlepresentspossibilitiesofusingtheseatransportand
seaportsinthelogisticchainofcardistributionontheexampleoftheToyotacompany.Toyotaisoneofthe
largestcarmanufacturersintheworld, having(amongothers)it
slogisticcentersofdistributioninseaportsof
Grimsby(GrimsbyLogisticCentreinNorthEastLincolnshire–England)andSagunto(SaguntoLogisticCentre
inValencia–Spain).
http://www.transnav.eu
the International Journal
on Marine Navigation
and Safety of Sea Transportation
Volume 9
Number 4
December 2015
DOI:10.12716/1001.09.04.03
478
Transportation ofcars requiresparticular
solutions depending on specific characteristics of a
transported vehicle. Cars are expensive and heavy
goods. During its handling there is usually no
packaging(exceptforcaseswhenthecariscoatedin
thinlayerofwaxorpackedinspecialistcover).The
changes in model,
size and weight of the car occur
very often and have significant influence on
elements of the distribution logistics system
(transportation, storage, handling, customer service
etc.). Customers’ requirements and minimization of
logistic costs forces safe transportation of a larger
number of cars in shorter time with adequate
selectionoftransportation
means.
Because of the global range of automotive
industry, one of the links in the chain of car
distribution is maritime transport, which enables a
commodityoranobjecttobetransportedviathesea
from every place in the world to any given
destination point. There is also a possibility
of
composite commissions realization with complex
forwarding‐transport handling of maritime
consignments directly from the manufacturers to
final recipients, including the insurance of shipped
cargo, customs agency, warehouses and bonded
warehouses.
The maritime transport has its advantages but,
unfortunately,also hasitsdrawbacks. The
advantages include: low costs of transport
(in
comparison to, for example, air transport), long
range, very large capacity, variety of transported
commodities, low risk of damaging the cargo or its
loss. Among the drawbacks of such means of
transport one can point out low speed of carriage,
handling only seaside areas, weather dependency,
theneedoftransshipments,
theriskofwaterdamage
tothecargoandthenecessityofbuildingexpensive
seaports.Inordertominimalizethenegativeimpact
ofnavaltransportoncarriedcars,specialvessels–so
called(Pure)CarCarriersareimplemented.
In the 1970s cars were transported mainly from
Japan (Toyota, Honda, Datsun)
to the USA and
Europe on upper, open decks of regular ships.
However, sea salt damaged the car coating and
exterior mechanisms of the vehicles. That is why
there has begun the construction of modern and
technically advanced ships that are equipped with
movabledecks,customrampsandabletocarry
upto
severalthousandcars[5].
One of the biggest shipping companies is a
logisticscompanyWalleniusWilhelmsenLogistics.It
is a privately owned Norwegian/Swedish shipping
company, established in 1999 and co‐owned by the
two shipping companies WalleniusLinesandWilh.
Wilhelmsen.Thecompanyoffers arangeoflogistics
services,includingsupplychainmanagement,ocean
transportation,terminalhandling,inlanddistribution
andtechnical services.Itisoneoftheworld’slargest
companiesinthetransportationofrollingequipment:
vehicles, heavy machinery, yachts, trains, power
stations and other. Headquartered in Oslo and
Stockholm,withmainregionalofficesinNewYork,
Tokyo and
Sydney, the company has 3300
employeesworldwide[6].
Figure1.WalleniusWilhelmsenLogisticsvessel[6]
Ships of this shipowner arrive also to the Polish
ports. In 2008 car carrier „Talia” operated by
WalleniusWilhelmsenLogisticscalledattheportof
GdańskPortFreeZoneasapartofregularshipping
servicewithJapan.Thisshipisnearly20meterslong
and32meterswide,it
hasthecarryingcapacityof21
thousandDWTtakingonboard6400motorvehicles.
The carrier brought a load of 2257 Toyota motor
vehiclesdestinedfortheRussianmarket[7].
In 2012 the Polish part of international maritime
trafficassociatedwiththetransportofselectedtypes
of vehicles
(ro‐ro units) amounted to a total of
374300 units, among them: 327424 passenger cars
and motorcycles, 1625 buses and 45251
import/exportvehicles[8].Table2showstheshareof
thelargestPolish seaportsin theinternational trade
ofgoodssuchascarsandmotorcycles.
Table2. The share of Polish seaports in international
marine traffic –passenger cars and motorcycles (in
numbers)[8]
_______________________________________________
PortsYear2012
_______________________________________________
Gdańsk43543
Gdynia83498
Świnoujście200383
Totalofpassengercarsandmotorcycles327424
_______________________________________________
3 DISTRIBUTIONLOGISTICSOFCARSONTHE
EXAMPLEOFTHETOYOTACOMPANY
3.1 CharacteristicsoftheToyotacompany‐production
andsales
The international character of Toyota Motor
Corporation is presented by its organizational
structure(Figure2).
Figure2. Organizational structure of Toyota Motor
Corporation[9]
479
In 2013 total production results of vehicles were
8698 thousand units and total sales results were
8871thousandunits(Table3)[4].
Table3.Toyotafirmvehiclessalesin2013[4].
_______________________________________________
RegionVehiclesales[inthousandunits]
_______________________________________________
Japan2279
OverseasTotal6592
NorthAmerica2469
Europe799
Asia1684
CentalandSouthAmerica364
Oceania271
Africa259
MiddleEast741
Other5
ConsolidatedTotal8871
_______________________________________________
Apart from passenger cars Toyota Group
produces, inter alia: large trucks, buses, small
commercial vehicles, engines, spare parts, homes,
boatsandmarineengines.
Toyota Motor Europe (TME) is 100 per cent
ownedbyToyotaMotorCorporation(TMC)andhas
its headquarters in Brussels, Belgium. TME is
responsible for all Western, Central
and Eastern
European countries including the Canary Island,
TurkeyandRussia,aswellasIsraelandnumber of
Central Asian markets (Armenia, Azerbaijan,
Georgia, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and
Uzbekistan). TME oversees the wholesale sales and
marketing of Toyota and Lexus vehicles, parts and
accessoriesandToyotaEuropeanmanufacturingand
engineering
operations. Toyota Motor Europe
operatesin17countrieswith9manufacturingplants,
9 vehicle logistics centers and 14 parts distribution
centers(Figure3)[10].
Figure3.ToyotaMotorEuropeactivities[10].
Figure4presentslogisticalprocessinToyotafirm
relatedtodeliveryofvehiclesandspareparts.
Figure4.DeliveringvehiclesandpartsinToyotafirm[11]
The paper presents examples of vehicle logistic
centers located in European maritime ports and
usingthepotentialofmaritimetransport.
3.2 Selectedlogisticsdistribution centersofToyota
company
3.2.1 GrimsbyLogisticCentre
Grimsby is the United Kingdom’s major car
import terminal, although retaining its strong
connection with the fishing and food
industry.
Grimsby is located just seven miles from the open
sea, on the South bank of the River Humber and
within easy reach of the UK’s industrial heartland.
TheM180/A 180dual carriageway runs rightto the
dock entrance, providing fast links to the M18 and
M1 motorways. There are
also direct quayside rail
connections which connect the port to the national
railway network. More than 600000vehicles are
importedthrough Grimsby each year. Grimsby and
Immingham create a unique network of services
connected to Nothern Europe and Scandinavia by
more than 30 roll‐on/roll‐off (ro‐ro) freight sailings
each week to ports ranging from Rotterdam to
Gothenburg[12].
The Port of Grimsby is the UK’s largest port by
tonnage. Its prime deep‐water location on the
Humber Estuary, one of Europe’s busiest trade
routes, gives companies direct access to mainland
Europeandbeyond.
In September 2013 the Grimsby
River terminal
opened,providingro‐roservices.Beforetheopening
of the new terminal, Grimsby Port handled 400000
ro‐rounitsperyear.Thiscombinedwiththefigures
fromnearbyImmingham,raisedthetotalnumberof
units moved each year to 600000. The Humber’s
southern bank has long been
a prime marine
gateway,comprisingasitdoestheportsofGrimsby,
ImminghamandKillingholme. Together,theselatter
two facilities in 2012 handled over 800000 vehicles
(Audi,Toyota,Skoda,Sayer,Seat,Suzuki,Mercedes‐
Benz, GM, Mini). Grimsby can accommodate ocean
car carriers with 3000 unit capacity. It markedly
improves the speed and efficiency of transporting
highnumbersoffinishedvehicles[13].
480
Figure5.GrimsbyLogisticsCentre[14].
Toyota’s Grimsby Logistic Centre is located in
Alexandra Dock North in Grimsby, North East
Lincolnshire in England. Its main functions include
receiving United Kingdom produced Avensis and
Auris passenger cars and transporting them to the
portsofexportortodestinationcountry,receiptand
transportation to UK National Marketing & Sales
Company (NMSC) of France built Yaris and Czech
buildAYGO,centralstockandenhancementactivity
of UK built vehicles destined for Norway. In 2010
export in Grimsby amounted to 62000 units and
import– 32000units.Grimsby yardspaceamounts
to61000m
2
[14].
3.2.2 ToyotaVehicleLogisticCentreinSagunto
Port Sagunto with Valencia and Gandia ports
create Spanish port system. The main technical
characteristics of this system are presented in the
Table4.
Table4.TheareaofSagunto,ValenciaandGandiasystem
ports(inthousandm
2
)[15].
_______________________________________________
Portof Portof Portof Total
ValenciaSagunto Gandia
_______________________________________________
Landsurfacearea  5264 23504 230 7844
Surfaceareaavailable 4306 2137  204 6647
forconcessions
Shelteredwater  41792194  276 6649
surfacearea
_______________________________________________
ThePortofSaguntoislinkedtothenationalroad
network via the CV‐309 and the V‐23 roads. These
roadsleadontotheAP‐7tollmotorwayandtheA‐23
motorway which connect the port to the rest of the
peninsula. The Port of Sagunto has its own
private
rail network, which belongs to Arcelor firm. This
links up to the national rail network via the South
Quay.
In2011,thenumberofnewcarsshippedasnon‐
containerised ro‐ro traffic was 380,606 (excluding
transit traffic). This represented a decrease of 7.2%
compared to 2010. 197,841 of
these new cars were
exported,themainbrandsbeingFord,Opel,Peugeot,
Renault and Iveco Pegaso. The other 133,609
imported vehicles were mainly Toyota (Toyota,
Toyota Gibraltar, Lexus), Fiat, Ford and Dacia. The
remaining 49,156 cars were domestic traffic to and
from the Balearic Islands. This traffic is handled
through the
ports of Valencia (82%) and Sagunto
(18%)[15].
Ro‐roandVehicleTerminal(Dock2)hasCarport
SaguntoS.L.operator.TheCarportSaguntoterminal
has attracted various automobile brands in a short
period of time (6 brands since April 2008),
consolidating its position as a reference terminal in
Spain and
Europe. Sagunto S.L. is the automobile
terminal in the port of Sagunto (Valencia) created
specificallytoaddressthevehicletrafficneedsofthe
Levante region. With a dock length of 540 meters,
two ro‐ro ramps, surface area of 275,000 m
2
, a
warehouse for customized services and workshop,
thenecessary equipment forloadingand unloading
vehiclesandstorage,thisterminalisoneofthemost
moderninEurope[16].
Toyota Vehicle Logistics Centre (VLC) with
Toyota Logistics Services Espaňa S.L.U. operator
handled by Carport. This is Toyota and Lexus
Vehicle
Logistics Centre for storage, inspection and
accessoryassembly(Figure6).
Figure6.ToyotaVehicleLogisticsCentreinSagunto[17].
AnnualTrafficofToyotaandLexusvehicleswas
42102unitsin2011[15]. TheSaguntoVLCreceives
vehicles from Toyota’s European manufacturing
plantsinTurkey,France,theUnitedKingdom,Czech
RepublicandPortugal.  Thesevehiclesarrivebysea
and truck, before being transported to locations
acrossSpain[17].
4 SUMMARY
The international character is a basic feature of the
automotive industry. This is pertaining to both the
automobile production and their use. In
contemporary world the car has become a good
essential for correct functioning of the economy of
the given country and for comfortable life of its
citizens. There
is strong competition between
numerous car manufacturers in the automotive
481
industry. Each of them wants to direct customersʹ
attentiontoitsproduct.
One of the elements contributing to the
competitiveedgeisanefficientlogisticprocess,also
inthe sphere of distribution. The aim of this article
wastodescribetheimportanceofseatransportand
seaports in efficient, minimizing
logistic costs and
satisfying to the customer world’s car distribution
process. As an example of one of the largest
automotive firms‐Toyota Motor Corporation was
chosen. It has numerous distribution centres, and
amongthem, the ones inwhich the sea transport is
performing the essential role and is contributing to
thesalegrowthofthisbrandcarsonmarketsinthe
entire world, meeting the diverse needs of
customers.
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logistycznego w dystrybucji samochodów osobowych.
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21maja2004.www.logistyka.net.pl
[6]
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www.portgdansk.pl
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www.toyota.eu/sustainability/Pages/default.aspx
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am
[13]£26m auto
terminal opens in Grimsby.
www.automotivelogisticsmagazine.com
[14]Toyota Motor Europe. Grimsby & Derby Logistic
Centre.www.toyota.eu
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www.valenciaport.com
[16]CarportSagunto.http://www.bisl.es
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