Toyota Launches RAV4 in Canada

Production of RAV4 cross/utility vehicles is under way at Toyota Motor Engineering and Mfg. North America’s new plant in Woodstock, ON, Canada.

The new facility represents an outlay of C$1.1 billion ($860 million) and brings Toyota’s investment in Canada to C$5.6 billion ($4.4 billion), the auto maker says.

Woodstock is the first facility outside Japan to build the RAV4.

“We started production in nearby Cambridge almost exactly 20 years ago, and this Woodstock plant shows our commitment to Canada is continuing,” says Toyota Motor Corp. President Katsuaki Watanabe, who presided over today’s launch.

In September, Toyota announced it would delay the start of a second shift at the new plant, which had been slated for the spring.

On two shifts, Woodstock has capacity for 150,000 vehicles per year. It currently employs 1,200 people. Addition of the second shift would add 800 workers.