Time to Retool: Toyota to Dump a Billion Loonies Into Ontario's RAV4 Plants
Toyota Motor Corp. is upgrading plants in Ontario to ready them for the next generation of the RAV4. The investment goes toward the retooling of two separate assembly lines at an estimated cost of one billion Canadian dollars (or roughly $780 million USD). While Toyota Motor Manufacturing Canada Woodstock will continue building the standard version of the crossover, TMMC Cambridge will handle the hybridized variant.
As a result, assembly of the Toyota Corolla will be moved out of Ontario and into Alabama, where the automaker is building a new facility via it’s recent partnership with Mazda. A portion of the funds going toward the project will also be reserved for research and development within the province.
The Canadian government is expected to contribute around $100 million CAD toward the project. According to The Globe and Mail, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Premier Kathleen Wynne will make an announcement at the TMMC North Plant in Cambridge this afternoon.
Currently, all Toyota RAV4 hybrids are imported from Japan. But with the company boasting record truck sales for the month of April (7.6 percent higher than 2017), it wants to consolidate domestic production. The model is currently Toyota’s best selling vehicle in North America and around a quarter of those sold leave the lot in hybrid trim. It’s anticipating similarly strong sales for the next generation and, provided it can get these assembly lines set up swiftly, localizing production will be a blessing in terms of minimizing overall costs.
Deliveries of the fifth-gen RAV4 are anticipated to begin before the end of 2018, with hybrid sales commencing in the spring of 2019.
[Image: Toyota Motor Corp.]
A staunch consumer advocate tracking industry trends and regulation. Before joining TTAC, Matt spent a decade working for marketing and research firms based in NYC. Clients included several of the world’s largest automakers, global tire brands, and aftermarket part suppliers. Dissatisfied with the corporate world and resentful of having to wear suits everyday, he pivoted to writing about cars. Since then, that man has become an ardent supporter of the right-to-repair movement, been interviewed on the auto industry by national radio broadcasts, driven more rental cars than anyone ever should, participated in amateur rallying events, and received the requisite minimum training as sanctioned by the SCCA. Handy with a wrench, Matt grew up surrounded by Detroit auto workers and managed to get a pizza delivery job before he was legally eligible. He later found himself driving box trucks through Manhattan, guaranteeing future sympathy for actual truckers. He continues to conduct research pertaining to the automotive sector as an independent contractor and has since moved back to his native Michigan, closer to where the cars are born. A contrarian, Matt claims to prefer understeer — stating that front and all-wheel drive vehicles cater best to his driving style.
More by Matt Posky
Comments
Join the conversation
Agree with Lou the Rav4 is the one to go with. Rav4 is still more fuel efficient than many crossovers and its not like you would take a huge mpg penalty over a Corolla.
Hey! My wife's next RAV4 will be built in Woodstock, 30 kms from home (~20 miles). It also keeps jobs in a town which is very auto manufacturing dependant. Now if we can just keep the GM plant going here in Ingersoll the economy and housing market may keep bubbling along.
As a current owner of a 2006 3rd Gen I will wait 2 or 3 years into this generation and then take a look at replacing mine.
$780M for a vehicle that should do about 300K/year... so maybe 1.5M over the course of its existence. $520/RAV4 for all new tooling? Profitable volume is nice.