Toyota to Maintain Canadian Production with Ontario Assembly of Refreshed 2027 Lexus NX

• The Lexus NX will continue to be manufactured in Canada, alongside the Toyota RAV4 and the Lexus RX.

• About 85% of the vehicles made by Toyota Motor Manufacturing Canada are headed to export markets, mostly the United States.

• Production of the plug-in hybrid NX will remain in Japan for the North American market.

While most automakers currently operating in Canada have downsized their manufacturing operations or significantly modified their future plans over the last 18 months, Toyota seems to be keeping course.

Indeed, the automaker has recently announced that production of the refreshed 2027 Lexus NX compact crossover for the North American market will continue to take place in Ontario.

While Toyota was technically the first Japanese automaker to manufacture vehicles in Canada all the way back in 1968, the small scale of this operation, which assembled only about 9,000 Corollas and Isuzu Bellets in Nova Scotia over 8 years, means that Honda is widely recognized as the first Japanese automaker to build in Canada, having opened its Alliston, Ontario factory in 1986.

Nevertheless, Toyota opened a much larger production facility in Cambridge, Ontario, only two years later and has since become Canada’s biggest automaker in terms of production volume.

Last year, Toyota assembled 537,518 vehicles in Canada, while Honda manufactured 401,000 vehicles locally during the same period.

Stellantis came in third, with 150,753 vehicles, General Motors in fourth with 125,758, and Ford didn’t produce vehicles in Canada in 2025 as its factory was in the midst of retooling.

Since the start of 2025, Honda indefinitely suspended its plans for a new electric vehicle complex in Ontario, Stellantis cancelled plans to produce the new Jeep Compass in Brampton and is now reportedly looking to sell the facility, General Motors cut the third shift at its Oshawa plant and closed down its Ingersoll factory, and Ford shifted its plans for the Oakville plant from EVs to heavy-duty trucks, production of which recently began.

Toyota is therefore the only automobile manufacturer to not have made significant changes to its Canadian production plans over the same period.

As a result, we expect to see the company maintain similar production levels at its three Canadian plants, with the Cambridge North Plant making the Toyota RAV4 and the Lexus NX, the Cambridge South Plant making the Lexus RX, and the Woodstock (West) plant also making the RAV4.

Like before, the plug-in hybrid version of the 2027 Lexus NX will be made in Japan for the North American market. With the discontinuation of the entry-level gasoline-powered NX, this means all 2027 NX models assembled in Canada will feature a conventional hybrid powertrain.

Choosing to keep production of the Lexus NX in Canada exposes Toyota to significant tariffs on vehicles entering the United States, which represents most of the production volume.

In fact, about 85% of the vehicles Toyota produces in Ontario are headed to export markets, with the United States making up the bulk of this number.

At the moment, the Trump administration has threatened to raise import tariffs on Canadian-made cars and SUVs to 50% if the two countries haven’t struck a new trade deal by January 1^st 2027.

Despite this, Scott MacKenzie, director of corporate affairs at Toyota Motor Manufacturing Canada, told Automotive News that “[Toyota] is fully committed to making cars in Canada for the long-term” and that “We continue to invest here and think Canada is a great place to make cars.”

While the pending arrival of Chinese electrified vehicles could threaten legacy automakers’ local sales figures, Toyota could also benefit from reduced competition from American automakers, whose Canadian sales seem to have dropped faster than the rest of the market in 2026.

Source: Automotive News Canada