Toyota to Add Production of Two Lexus Models in Canada, Report Claims

Toyota dropped a big hint this week that new product might be on its way to the Great White North, saying an announcement will be made Monday that “will serve to further reaffirm Toyota’s commitment to manufacturing in Canada.”

The automaker operates three assembly plants in southwest Ontario, with the Cambridge North facility tapped for next week’s big news. Bloomberg seems eager to kill the suspense, however, with plugged-in sources telling the publication that two Lexus crossovers stand to join the company’s Canuck assembly scene.

If confirmed, it’s good news for a country facing a doomed General Motors plant and a dropped shift at Fiat Chrysler’s Windsor minivan plant.

Those sources claim Cambridge, home to two of Toyota’s plants, will add production of both the Lexus NX compact crossover and the three-row variant of the RX starting in 2022.

Toyota Motor Manufacturing Canada (TMMC) has long hinted that new products could be on the horizon, underlining the suggestion with a $1.4 billion plant upgrade announced early last year. Last month, Toyota kicked off RAV4 production at Cambridge North, replacing long-running Corolla production that moved stateside. The company’s Woodstock plant also builds RAV4s, while the Cambridge South plant cranks out Lexus RX 350 and RX 450H models.

A production U-turn freed up space in Cambridge for new product. While Toyota originally planned to assemble all North American RAV4 hybrid models at that facility, the automaker recently shifted production of RAV4 hybrids bound for U.S. sale to its Kentucky facility. Cambridge will continue building RAV4 hybrids for Canadian customers and a narrow slice of the U.S. market.

With capacity freed up, it seems Toyota wants bring NX production to America’s doorstep. It’s expected that the next-generation NX will appear next year, possibly as a late-arriving 2020 model. The lengthened RX also hails from Japan.

TMMC built 497,354 vehicles in Canada last year, with roughly half of the RAV4s sold in the U.S. originating north of the border.

[Images: Chris Tonn/TTAC]