TMMC tallies 9M vehicles with Lexus RX 450h in Cambridge
by CM Staff
500,000 vehicles are built annually, making TMMC the highest producing Toyota and Lexus plant in North America
Toyota executives and team members pose next to the nine millionth vehicle – a 2020 Lexus RX 450h hybrid luxury SUV – in Cambridge, Ont. PHOTO: TMMC
CAMBRIDGE, Ont. — Toyota Motor Manufacturing Canada (TMMC) hit a significant milestone on May 27 when it’s 9 millionth vehicle rolled off the assembly line at its plant in Cambridge, Ont.
The vehicle – a Lexus RX 450h hybrid luxury SUV – is of a valued pedigree. TMMC was the first plant outside of Japan to build a higher-end Lexus vehicle. It currently manufactures the Toyota RAV4 and RAV4 Hybrid, Lexus RX 350 and RX 450 hybrid models at its three Ontario manufacturing plants.
“In 1988 – the year we opened our first plant in Cambridge – our team members built 153 Toyota Corollas – and it took 10 years to produce our first million vehicles,” said Frank Voss, president of TMMC in a statement. “We built the most recent million in just two years and we’re building almost 500,000 Toyota and Lexus vehicles every year, making us the highest producing Toyota and Lexus plant in North America, and the second largest in the world.”
Since 1988, TMMC has grown to become a major employer in Southwestern Ontario, with two lines in Cambridge and a third line in Woodstock that together employ more than 8,500 people.
In May 2000, when it was chosen to build the first Lexus outside Japan – the RX 330 luxury SUV, the original Toyota plant in Cambridge had to be completely overhauled. Today, TMMC’s Cambridge South plant builds the Lexus RX 350 and Lexus RX450h.
In 2005, TMMC expanded by heading to Woodstock, where it broke ground on a 1.8-million square foot facility to manufacture the RAV4 compact SUV. Today, TMMC West produces the Toyota RAV4 and RAV4 Hybrid for the North American market.
