ONTARIO: Close to half of the new vehicles built in Canada in 2017 were from Japanese brands like Honda and Toyota, according to a recent press release from an association made up of those companies.
Their total output combined to top one million units for the second consecutive year, reports the Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association of Canada (JAMA Canada), or about 46 percent of total Canadian light vehicle production in 2017.
The vehicles assembled for export in the more than 60 Japanese car and car parts plants across Canada outnumber the Japanese-brand vehicles imported into Canada by four to one, JAMA reports. Within Canada, Japanese-brand new car sales of some 719,807 units – accounted for roughly 35 percent of the market.
A McMaster University study completed in 2017 estimated some 200,000 jobs in Canada were connected either directly or indirectly to the Japanese-brand auto industry. Major assembly plants include Honda’s facility in Alliston, Ontario; and Toyota‘s plants in Cambridge and Woodstock, Ontario.