Toyota Motor Manufacturing Canada Inc. celebrated the grand opening of its new assembly plant in Woodstock, Ontario. This new facility, situated on 1000 acres, will initially employ 1200 people and produce 75 000 vehicles annually (Toyota RAV4). The new Woodstock facility will produce Toyota's compact SUV, the RAV4. It will initially have an annual capacity of producing 75,000 units per shift. The long-term benefits of the new Woodstock assembly plant will be significant. The plant has created 1,200 new jobs and increased Toyota's assembly capacity in Canada from 300,000 units to 375,000 units, making the combination of plants in Cambridge and Woodstock the second-largest operation among Toyota's wholly owned North American facilities. In addition to the direct benefits of this investment, the new plant offers significant opportunities for local parts sourcing, investment and employment through Toyota's suppliers in Canada, as well as substantial spin-off benefits in the local community.

Toyota Motor Manufacturing Canada Inc. is ramping down production plans for its new assembly plant in Woodstock, Ont., reported the factory will open on schedule later this year but with only one shift of workers building 75,000 vehicles a year to start. The company announced it still intends eventually to run two shifts, pumping out 150,000 RAV4 compact SUVs per year. But it announced weak sales continent wide are forcing a cautious start. Toyota spent $1.1 billion to build its latest assembly plant in Woodstock, which will build the RAV4. The company's other Canadian factory in Cambridge, Ont. makes the Corolla, Matrix and Lexus RX350 models. Toyota announced the staggered launch of the Woodstock site will not affect the job security of workers.

Toyota Motor Manufacturing Canada Inc. cutting its Woodstock production in half and its workforce there by 40% due to the slowing U. S. economy. Toyota has hired 1,200 workers for one shift in Wooodstock when it had forecast 2,000 for two shifts. The company will now make only 75,000 RAV4 crossover utility vehicles a year at the plant to start, when it had forecast assembling 150,000.