West is where we build the popular Toyota RAV4 crossover utility, and is located in Woodstock, Ontario. It is the newest of our three plants—and, in fact, when it was built, it was the first ‘greenfield’ automotive assembly in plant in Canada in almost 20 years. It is also one of global Toyota’s most technologically advanced plants, which is why we do not operate any tours at this facility. However, we can still give you a peek at what goes on behind these shop doors.
The Worst Kept Secret Ever
In 2005, Toyota announced the selection of Woodstock, Ontario as the site of a new manufacturing plant. In making the announcement, then President of Toyota Motor Manufacturing North America, Atsushi Niimi, called the announcement “the worst kept secret ever in Ontario”.
More Popular Than Ever
Due to the addition of a second shift, production of RAV4 at the West plant rose from 78,000 in 2009 to 151,000 in 2010—a big part of TMMC’s total production increase of 43.5 percent in a single year. That increase has solidified TMMC’s rank as the largest producing Toyota plant in North America and fourth largest producing Toyota plant world-wide.
Manufacturing the Future
Not only is our West plant one of the most technologically advanced, it is now involved in shaping the future of transportation, supplying RAV4's that will be turned into electric vehicles. These vehicles will be integrated with a powertrain supplied by Tesla Motors—a leading electric car company. A fully-engineered RAV4 EV is targeted to launch in 2012.
Investing in the Future
Construction of the West plant required an investment of nearly 2 billion dollars, bringing total TMMC investment to over 5.5 billion dollars. It also added 2000 new jobs bringing our total workforce to 6500 Team Members. The construction of the plant also brought a number of other economic benefits to the region, as more than a dozen suppliers to TMMC also brought operations to Woodstock and the surrounding area.
Quick Facts
| Facilities |
Cambridge - 3 million sq ft Woodstock - 1.8 million sq ft |
| Investment | $5.6 billion CAD |
| Employment | 6,500 |
| Products | RAV4 |
