WOODSTOCK, Ont. (April 5, 2005) — Toyota Motor Corp. is focusing on a 1,000-acre plot of land near Woodstock, Ont. for possibility a new car assembly plant.

The Globe and Mail reports today that the Japanese automaker is considering the site for a $600 million facility that could eventually double production for Toyota in Canada. The land is near Hwy. 401 and Hwy. 2 in Oxford County, just 30 minutes away from its existing operations in Cambridge, Ont.

The plans, which have not been confirmed by the company, could strengthen Southern Ontario’s re-emerging auto manufacturing industry. It is also seen as a boost to related businesses such as component manufacturing and auto parts hauling — which makes up a large slice of freight transported on the Hwy. 401 corridor between Detroit and Toronto.

A new plant would also be a victory for Canada and Ontario, which has hiked financial incentives to compete with several southern U.S. states that are too trying to attract auto manufacturers to build there.

The Globe states that Toyota has not made a final decision, but, according to the paper’s industry sources, the plant is Canada’s to lose.

The company’s Toyota Motor Manufacturing Canada Inc. plant in Cambridge employs about 4,300 people. Currently, the Canadian Auto Workers union to attempting to organize workers at the Cambridge operation.

The traditional Big Three auto makers — the Chrysler unit of DaimlerChrysler AG, Ford Motor Co. and General Motors Corp. — have also invested billions of dollars in Canada recently, although they have not committed to any new assembly plants.

In May 2003, Ottawa and the Ontario government stepped in to save the International Truck and Engine heavy-duty truck plant in Chatham, Ont. Parent company Navistar threatened to move plant production to Escobedo, Mexico after it could not reach a deal with the Canadian Auto Workers. The government’s threw parent company Navistar a lifeline with a $65 million aid package.

— with files from the Globe and Mail