Toyota Motor Manufacturing Canada (TMMC) will finally add a second shift to build more RAV4 compact SUVs at its Woodstock, Ontario facility in March 2010.
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TMMC, which also builds the Corolla, Matrix, and the Lexus RX350, will add more than 800 jobs and increase RAV4 production to 150,000 vehicles. Hiring begins this month.
Production of the RAV4 SUV began in November 2008 with one shift and 1,200 workers. TMMC had originally planned to operate the plant on two shifts from the start but the always-cautious automaker held off as the credit crunch began to bite.
Toyota will now build the majority of these popular SUVs for the North American market in Ontario.
The Forbes.com website this week listed the RAV4 as one of its top 10 US ‘harder to find’ popular vehicles because Toyota does such a good job of matching dealer inventory to retail sales demand, thus controlling distribution and stocking costs.
Sales improved recently and inventory has reached an almost ”appropriate level,” a Toyota official told Kyodo News.
The Japanese automaker has also started boosting production elsewhere in North America by introducing overtime shifts at the Kentucky plant, among others, which manufactures the popular Camry sedan.
RAV4 sales in the United States rose 24.3% year on year in November to 11,512 units. US buyers are offered a V6 petrol engine option in addition to the standard I4 motor.
“Thanks to the high demand for this popular vehicle, we are able to increase production in Woodstock,” said TMMC president Ray Tanguay.
“This move demonstrates Toyota’s continued commitment to North American production and to building where we sell.”
The additional 800 jobs will boost the total TMMC employment to approximately 6,500. TMMC has manufactured vehicles since November 1988 and can build 420,000 units a year.
