The state of automotive production in Canada has made more headlines over the span of just a few weeks in early 2025 than perhaps at any point since the dawn of NAFTA in the early 1990s.
As threats emanating from below the 49th parallel ebb and flow, the thought of 25% import duties being levelled on Ontario-built vehicles send shivers up the spines of, well, almost everybody. The side-effects would be seemingly endless, touching all aspects of the automotive industrial complex and adjacent industries, too.
Across five manufacturers, Canadian manufacturing plants built 1.3 million new vehicles in 2024 according to the Automotive News Data Center, a 13% drop from 2023 levels. Why the drop? The reduction is largely due to silent assembly lines at Ford’s Oakville plant (where the Edge and its Lincoln counterpart have been discontinued) and the Stellantis plant in Brampton (where the Chrysler 300, Dodge Challenger, and Dodge Charger used to be built).
Yet all but the most fervent Maple Leaf-waving optimists are certain that 25% tariffs at the U.S. border would lead to a far more dramatic curtailing of Canadian auto production. The apple cart was not turned over on February 4, but after 60 years of largely tariff-free movement of new vehicles and parts across the border, threats of upheaval still loom large.
Where does the Canadian automotive industry stand now? How many vehicles is each plant producing? What vehicles are they producing? And where are they being sold?
9. Chrysler Voyager/Grand Caravan: 51,502, up 7%
In Windsor, Ontario – a stone’s throw from Detroit – minivan production is a mainstay. The minivan market is a shadow of its former self, but Stellantis still built 159,170 vans in 2024. Of those, 51,502 were Chrysler Grand Caravans, known south of the border as Voyagers. Canadians bought 4,643 of them in 2024; the U.S. market grabbed another 12,033.
8. Lexus NX: 53,787, down 10%
Toyota’s premium division built 53,787 NX utility vehicles in Cambridge, Ontario in 2024, 17,827 of which were hybrids. The Lexus NX, along with its Canadian-built RX sibling, is one of the most popular premium brand utility vehicles in America, where 74,488 were sold in 2024. Canadian sales of the NX slipped 15% to 9,196 last year.
7. Ford Edge: 54,178, down 59%
Production of the Ford Edge wound down in Oakville, Ontario, in early 2024. Though originally destined to be an EV hub, Ford is now singing a new tune in Oakville. F-Series Super Duty trucks will begin rolling out of Oakville in 2026. As for the outgoing model, the final 75,989 Edges found homes in 2024: 9,553 in Canada and 66,436 in the U.S.
6. Chrysler Pacifica: 107,668, up 21%
The more popular of two Stellantis minivans is the higher-end Chrysler Pacifica, sales of which fell 22% to 5,486 in Canada last year. (Total Chrysler minivan sales volume rose 12%.) U.S. buyers grabbed hold of another 107,356 Pacificas. The Windsor Assembly Plant kicked into gear in 1928 and has been building minivans since 1983.
5. Lexus RX: 111,220, down 5%
Toyota builds a lot of vehicles in the United States, including a lot of Lexus SUVs. But America’s favourite premium utility vehicle, the Lexus RX, actually comes from Cambridge, Ontario. In, Cambridge, 111,220 RXs were built in 2024, a 5% drop from 2023 levels. Canadians acquired 10,387 RXs in 2024; Americans bought another 118,636.
4. Chevrolet Silverado: 152,190, down 1%
The Chevrolet Silverado is one-half of a massive full-size pickup tag-team that produced 988,883 sales north of the Rio Grande in 2024: 114,204 in Canada; 874,679 in the United States. (384,922 were GMC Sierras.) By those standards, the 152,190 Silverados that are built in Oshawa are small potatoes. General Motors also builds full-size trucks in Flint, Michigan; Fort Wayne, Indiana; and Silao, Mexico.
3. Honda Civic: 206,455, up 20%
Honda began building cars in Canada in 1986 and began building Civics in Canada in 1988. It’s been a successful venture – the Civic was Canada’s best-selling car every year between 1998 and 2021 as well as 2024. Honda sold 31,774 Civics in Canada in 2024 plus another 242,005 in the United States. Honda also builds Civics in Greensburg, Indiana, albeit only 70,921 in 2024.
2. Honda CR-V: 214,095, up 6%
Like the Civic, the Honda CR-V is built in Alliston, Ontario. But while the overwhelming majority of North America’s Civic production comes out of Alliston, the CR-V is assembled in large numbers in two midwest plants: 109,097 in East Liberty, Ohio; 172,706 in Greensburg, Indiana. The CR-V is still a major export vehicle for Ontario – Canada certainly isn’t hanging on to all 214,095 built in 2024. CR-V sales in Canada reached 55,363 in 2024; U.S. CR-V sales climbed to 402,791.
1. Toyota RAV4: 368,577, up 6%
The Toyota RAV4 is the only vehicle currently produced in Canada that requires two locations. RAV4 production in Woodstock, Ontario, climbed 7% to 234,090 in 2024. Production of the RAV4 in Cambridge, Ontario, was up 3% to 134,487. (Toyota also built 77,282 RAV4s in Georgetown, Kentucky.) The RAV4 is one of the most popular vehicles on the continent and the best-selling SUV in both Canada and the United States. U.S. sales jumped 9% to 475,193 in 2024; Canadian volume rose 4% to 77,556.
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