Toyota to Expand in Canada; First New Site for Auto Assembly Plant in Canada in Almost 20 Years

Toyota announced on June 30th that it will construct a new plant in Woodstock, Ontario employing 1,300 team members to build the RAV4 sport utility vehicle. The new plant represents an approximate $800 million investment and will be Toyota’s second Canadian assembly plant. It is the first green field automotive assembly facility in Canada in almost 20 years. The new plant will open in 2008 and will have the capacity to build 100,000 units annually. Toyota Motor Manufacturing, Canada, Inc. (TMMC) in nearby Cambridge, Ontario, will manage the plant. TMMC builds the Toyota Corolla and Matrix and the Lexus RX330 in Cambridge, where it employs 4,300. This new facility will boost Toyota’s manufacturing employment in Ontario to about 5,600. TMMC has been manufacturing vehicles in Cambridge since November 1988. Original capacity was 50,000 units annually. By 2004, production had climbed to 288,000 units.

Additionally, Toyota announced an expansion of Canadian Autoparts Toyota, Inc. (CAPTIN) in Delta, British Columbia. As a result of the $39 million expansion, wheel capacity at the facility will increase by nearly 17 percent per year, starting in July 2007. By 2008, Toyota will have the annual capacity to build 1.76 million cars and trucks, 1.44 million engines, and 600,000 automatic transmissions in North America.