Toyota's recent investments south of the border won’t impact production in Ontario, according to the company's manager of corporate communications.
The company announced Thursday that it would invest a whopping US$750 million into five factories around the U.S., prompting concerns that production would be impacted in Canada.
“While some RAV4 Hybrid production will be allocated to the additional capacity at our plant in Kentucky, the remainder of RAV4 Hybrids will continue to be produced here in Canada,” says Michael Bouliane, manager of corporate communications for TMMC.
Rumours swirled that production in Woodstock and Cambridge would take a hit by as much as 10 per cent, but Bouliane says that’s not the case.
“Absolutely not,” he says. “The addition of some RAV4 Hybrid production volume at our plant does not impact our production volume at TMMC.”
He says that TMMC will remain the largest producer of the RAV4 for North American markets, and that the company expects stable production levels from both factories.
Less than a year ago, Toyota announced a $1.4 billion upgrade to the Cambridge and Woodstock plants.
That investment is expected to result in 450 new jobs and 1,000 new co-op positions between the two factories, as well as an estimated $200 million in Canadian research and development.
With files from the Associated Press and the Canadian Press.
