Local Rotarians heard some eye-opening statistics about Toyota when a high-level executive stopped in for a presentation on Thursday.
Scott MacKenzie, Director of Corporate & External Affairs, was a guest speaker at the Rotary Club of Stratford’s weekly meeting.
MacKenzie said the Japanese-based company employs more than 8,500 people between assembly plants in Woodstock and Cambridge, and they have never laid off a full-time Canadian employee.
The company has invested $10 billion in Canadian operations and continues to run a “healthy” business in the country, with 525,000 vehicles produced in 2023.
The company has been named one of Canada’s top 100 employers for 20 straight years and was one of Canada’s greenest employers in 2024.
The first Toyota hybrid vehicle was produced in Canada in 2014. Last year, 23 per cent of its production was hybrid.
MacKenzie said the pathway to zero emissions is different in different countries, so it is challenging for a company as a whole to reach that goal. Toyota takes a multi-pathway approach, with plug-in hybrids, fuel cell electric, battery electric and hybrid electric.
Offering a broad electrification portfolio is the best way to offer carbon reduction options to the greatest amount of people, MacKenzie said.
Currently, 19 of 23 Toyota models have a hybrid option.
