The plant in Cambridge opened in 1988.
The first car off the assembly line was a Corolla.
Toyota and Canada have reason to be proud of this milestone. Since the ground-breaking for the facility occurred some 35 years ago, Toyota Motor Manufacturing Canada (TMMC) has gone from just another assembly line to a world-class plant.
Of the many highlights of the facility, becoming the first plant outside of Japan to produce Lexus vehicles is certainly one of the most noteworthy. That vehicle was the RX and the first one left the line on September 26th, 2003.
“Today’s milestone speaks to how far Toyota’s manufacturing operations in Canada have come over the past three decades,” said Frank Voss, President of TMMC. “In 1988, the year we opened our first plant in Cambridge, our team members built 153 Toyota Corollas and it took over 11 years to produce our first million vehicles. Today, we’re Canada’s largest automaker and leading maker of electrified vehicles, building half a million Toyota and Lexus vehicles for the North American market every year.”
Today, the three facilities are responsible for assembling the Toyota RAV5, Lexus RX, and new Lexus NX. The latter, a red Lexus NX 350h hybrid is the official 10-millionth vehicle to leave the TMMC.
The TMMC has become one of Southwestern Ontario’s most important employers, with two production lines in Cambridge and a third line in Woodstock that, together, employ more than 8,500 people.