In welcome news for Canada’s struggling auto making industry, Toyota Motor Manufacturing Canada says it will start producing its top-selling Lexus NX SUV in its Cambridge, Ontario plant starting in 2022.
The plant will produce both a standard and hybrid version of the compact luxury SUV to supply the North American market, Toyota Canada president Fred Volf announced Monday at a ceremony attended by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and representatives of the Ontario provincial government.
“It means that Toyota’s Canadian manufacturing operations are here to stay,” Volf said. “It means that we will continue to be a leader in Canada and globally.”
Flavio Volpe, president of the Automotive Parts Manufacturers Association, said Toyota’s announcement means it is committing to produce its two top-selling Lexus SUVs in Canada.
“This announcement says very loudly that Toyota trusts its reputation wholeheartedly to the workers, supply chain and business environment in Canada,” Volpe said.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announces on Apr. 29, 2019 in Cambridge, Ontario that Toyota will make the new Lexus NX luxury SUV at the Toyota plant in Cambridge. (Lars Hagberg / AFP/Getty Images)
The move comes as the car making industry in Ontario has been waylaid in recent months by General Motors’s decision last November to shutter its Oshawa facility, and Chrysler’s decision last month to cut a shift at its Windsor assembly plant, leading to 1,500 job losses.
Last year, Toyota committed to spending $1.4 billion at its Canadian facilities in Cambridge and nearby Woodstock, Ont. , switching them over to what it calls its New Global Architecture — a status that allows them to be nimble enough to easily accept new work.
The federal government met Toyota’s commitment with its own $110 million investment at the time.
Trudeau said the investment will support more than 8,000 jobs and 1,000 co-op placements in Southwestern Ontario.
“Today is a great day for Toyota, for Cambridge, and for Canada,” Trudeau said. “Toyota’s new commitment to its Cambridge facility is a vote of confidence in our auto sector, and will help Canada lead in the new high-tech economy of the future.”
Canadian auto plants build more than two million vehicles each year.
Ontario is the only place in North America where five major automakers build vehicles — Toyota, Fiat Chrysler, Ford, General Motors, Honda — as well as truck manufacturer Hino.
The automotive sector is Canada’s largest export industry, supporting over 525,000 jobs and contributing $18 billion annually to the country’s economy.
With files from Reuters
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