Western Metropolitan upper house MP Bernie Finn blamed the July 1 carbon tax and warned the west would be the worst hit.

O-I glass manufacturer has also announced 70 workers will go when one of its three furnaces at Spotswood closes on March 31.

State Williamstown MP Wade Noonan said it was ‘‘part of a worrying trend in Melbourne’s west, particularly in the manufacturing sector’’. He said Victoria was bucking the national trend. ‘‘Victoria lost 2000 full-time jobs last month while 26,400 new full-time jobs were created across the rest of Australia.’’

All Toyota’s cuts will be forced redundancies, covering blue and white collar workers at Hobsons Bay’s biggest employer. More than 3300 workers assembled at the plant on Monday in a company-wide briefing to hear Toyota Australia president Max Yasuda announce the cuts.

It is the latest blow to the car industry, which is increasingly reliant on government handouts for survival and caught with outmoded classes of cars as consumers increasingly opt for small cars and SUVs ahead of locally built, big sedans.

Hours before the 4pm announcement, the Australian Manufacturing Workers Union was still in the dark over job-loss plans.

Toyota had reneged on its commitment in the enterprise bargaining agreement signed last month to consult with the union ahead of any job cuts, said Ian Jones, federal secretary of the union’s vehicle building division.

Despite the cuts, Toyota spokesman Glenn Campbell said the company was in for a busy year, with the introduction of the latest-generation petrol-electric Hybrid Camry in late February or March, a refreshed Aurion six-cylinder in April and a new engine plant to produce four cylinder engines due to be completed by year’s end.

O-I Asia Pacific general manager Brian Slingsby said the glass furnace closure was due to deteriorating market conditions and weak consumer sentiment. “This has led to declining food and beverage sales across the country, particularly in the beer and wine segments.”

Mr Finn said: ‘‘I was predicting this last year, unfortunately: that the carbon tax would have this impact, particularly in the western suburbs.’’