Feature: All 22 Canadian-made new cars and trucks for 2013
Story by John LeBlanc
Although Canada produces fewer cars today than in the last few decades, it is still one of the largest when it comes to auto manufacturing. While we may no longer be in the top 10 (we’re actually 11th), more than 2.1 million new passenger vehicles were assembled in Canada in 2011 across five major plants belonging to Ford, General Motors, Chrysler, Honda, and Toyota. And although about 400,000 of these Canadian-made vehicles were exported (mainly to the U.S. market), the majority end up being sold right here at home.
2013 Buick Regal
Along with the Chevrolet Camaro, Impala and Cadillac XTS, the $36,845 midsize, 2013 Buick Regal five-passenger, four-door sedan is assembled in General Motors’ Oshawa, Ontario facility. While North American-market Regals have been built in Canada since 2011, the car is also built for foreign markets in China and Germany, where it’s sold as the Opel Insignia. The Regal has just been facelifted for model year 2014.
2013 Cadillac XTS
Replacing the outgoing DTS and STS sedans, the full-size, $48,995 Cadillac XTS full-size sedan is all-new for 2013. Until a rumoured, rear-wheel drive model shows up, the five-passenger XTS is considered Cadillac’s “flagship” sedan, and is available in front- or all-wheel drive. While the XTS has been assembled at GM’s Oshawa facility since last summer, production for the Chinese market started near Shanghai earlier this year. For 2014, Cadillac is turning up the wick with a new Vsport model that has more than 400 horsepower.
2013 Chevrolet Camaro
It’s funny how two of America’s best-known muscle cars are built north of the 49th parallel. The first on our list is the Chevrolet Camaro. Since its much-hyped debut for 2010, the latest-generation of the rear-wheel-drive, two-door $28,200 Chevrolet Camaro coupe and $36,300 convertible started production in Oshawa in 2009. For 2013, a convertible version of the supercharged ZL1 muscle machine is available (pictured), with the entire lineup receiving a mid-life cycle refresh for 2014. It marks the return of the much awaited Z/28 high-performance naturally aspirated model, picking up where the now-discontinued Mustang Boss 302 left off.
2013 Chevrolet Equinox
General Motors has assembled its popular $26,935 five-passenger, four-door Chevrolet Equinox midsize crossover at its Ingersoll, Ont., facility since 2004. Now in its second generation, it packs a fuel-efficient four-cylinder motor and a Cadillac-grade 3.6-litre V6 engine. To keep up with heavy demand, GM has recently added Equinox production to its Oshawa facility. The only other plant in the world that builds the Chevy crossover is in Tennesse, U.S.A.
2013 and 2014 Chevrolet Impala
While Chevrolet has built its Impala sedan in at GM’s Oshawa plant since 2000, this year two different models are being assembled here. The first is the carryover 2013 model which is being sold under the Impala Classic moniker. Don’t worry, you can’t buy it – unless you’re business card says Hertz, Thrifty, or Enterprise. The second is the all-new $28,445 2014 full-size Impala, which shares a platform with the Cadillac XTS. A handsome steed, it brings style and swagger back to the Impala name.
2013 Chrysler 300
Designed by Canadian Ralph Gilles and built in Brampton, Ont., it’s easy to get patriotic about the Chrysler 300 ($31,745). With a road presence that hasn’t been seen in an American sedan since the late ‘50s, the 300 has played an ongoing part of Chrysler’s revitalization since 2005. Offered with rear or all-wheel drive, and a choice of V6 or Hemi V8 engines since 2005, it’s been built right here in Canada. For foreign markets, the Chrysler sedan is also built in Austria and China.
2013 Chrysler Town & Country
One of three minivans built at Chrysler’s Windsor, Ont. Assembly, the 2013 $32,995 Chrysler Town & Country has been Canadian-made since 1989. While not a popular as its Dodge platform mate, the fifth-generation Town & Country is also built at a Fiat facility in Missouri, U.S.A.
2013 Dodge Charger
This could very well take the prize as the meanest looking car to ever roll out of a Canadian production facility. Alongside its Chrysler 300 and Dodge Challenger siblings, the full-size Dodge Charger sedan ($27,495) has been built at Chrysler’s Brampton, Ont., facility since 2005. With both rear- or all-wheel-drive, and engines offering between 292 and 470 horsepower, the Charger is a unique proposition compared to some of its full-size family sedan rivals. Whoever says they don’t make ‘em like they used to clearly hasn’t spent any time at the wheel of the Charger.
2013 Dodge Challenger
When Dodge axed the Magnum muscle wagon, we have to admit, we shed a tear. But when Chrysler announced that its spot at Brampton assembly would be filled by the Challenger … those tears dried quickly. This perfectly reimagined muscle icon shares its underpinnings with the Charger and Chrysler 300. Starting at less than $25 grand, and available with a tire-smoking 6.4-litre Hemi V8, the rear-drive Challenger brings soul and style to Dodge’s product lineup.
2013 Dodge Grand Caravan
The growing popularity of crossovers has more or less come at the expense of the ultimate family hauler, the minivan. Nevertheless, the Dodge Grand Caravan is still a fixture on Canadian top sales charts – it’s the fourth most popular vehicle on sale today, with 51,555 sold last year. With prices starting at $19,895 for the Canada Value Package model, it’s no small wonder, either. All are made at Chrysler’s Windsor, Ont., plant, as they have since 1983.
2013 Ford Edge
Built on a shortened platform shared with the Mazda CX-9 three-row crossover, the two-row, five-passenger $27,999 Ford Edge has been made in Ford’s Oakville, Ont., and facility since it debuted in 2006. We’re now on the second-gen model which offers buyers a choice of three different powerplants, including a fuel-saving 2.0-litre turbocharged four-cylinder. We’ve heard rumors that the third-gen Edge will be based on the latest Ford Fusion, and will arrive for model year 2015.
2013 Ford Flex
With styling that makes it look like a mutant cross-breed between a Mini Cooper Clubman and a Range Rover, this full-size crossover replaced the poorly-received Taurus X back at the turn of the decade. Priced at less than $30,000 and built exclusively in Oakville, it’s a family friendly machine that takes the place of the minivan in Ford’s product lineup.
2013 GMC Terrain
To keep it in line with the times, GMC was blessed with its own version of the Chevrolet Equinox midsize crossover, albeit with a boxier, more upright shape. It took over from the Pontiac Torrent when GM killed Pontiac back in ’09. Like the Equinox, it’s built at both GM’s Ingersoll and Oshawa assembly facilities, and comes powered by four and six-cylinder motors.
2013 Honda Civic
While Honda has been building cars at its Alliston, Ont. plant since 1986, it didn’t start manufacturing Civics until 1988. After launching a new generation of the Civic for 2012 that was thoroughly criticized in the motoring media, the 2013 Civic ($15,440) won the title of “best-selling passenger car in Canada” last year for the 15th consecutive year.
2013 Honda CR-V
The Honda CR-V ($25,990) is the Civic of the crossover world: it’s practical, reliable, has excellent fuel economy, and is well made. It’s exactly the sort of vehicle Canadians have come to love. Unlike the Civic, the CR-V has had less of tenure in Canada, with production starting in 2012. It replaces the Acura MDX and ZDX at Alliston.
2013 Lexus RX
The Lexus RX was a milestone for Toyota Canada. In 2004, the brand decided that TMMC (Toyota Motor Manufacturing Canada) would be the first location outside of Japan to build a Lexus. Since then, the Cambridge plant has won many J.D. Power awards for quality, too. Later this year, assembly of the RX 450h hybrid version will join the gas-powered RX 350 at the same plant. Other markets also have a four-cylinder version called the RX 270, which is common with the Toyota Venza and Highlander.
2013 Lincoln MKT
You can think of Lincoln’s MKT as swoopier version of the Ford Flex – both, after all, ride on the same global Volvo-based platform. It has more luxurious trappings, too, plus nifty capacitive touch sliding controls on the centre stack. Lincoln also offers fleet buyers a Town Car version, which features an extended wheelbase for more rear legroom. The MKT has been a fixture at Ford’s Oakville, Ont. plant since 2009.
2013 Lincoln MKX
Just like its Ford Edge platform mate, the Lincoln MKX ($46,150) is built in the U.S automaker’s Oakville, Ont. plant since it debuted in 2006 after replacing the Ford Explorer-based Aviator SUV. Like the Edge, the MKX is only assembled in Oakville, and a replacement is due at the same time as the new Edge, some time in 2014.
2014 Toyota Corolla
Like its chief rival, the Honda Civic, the Toyota Corolla compact sedan has been built in Canada since 1988. The current, Toyota Corolla is built alongside its Matrix hatchback platform mate at Toyota’s Cambridge, Ont., facility. Starting this fall, an all-new generation of Canadian-made Corolla is slated to begin hitting showrooms. Aside from offering a much more spacious interior, the car also boasts much sleeker styling and standard LED headlamps – a class first.
2013 Toyota Matrix
The hatchback version of the Corolla, the $16,795 Toyota Matrix, was added to Toyota’s Cambridge plant in 2002. Since Toyota shut down its Freemont plant in California, it’s the only place where the little hatch is made. While the Corolla sedan is built around the world and sold in many foreign markets, the front-wheel-drive, five-passenger, four-door hatchback Matrix is only sold in North America.
2013 Toyota RAV4
Like its Corolla sedan stable mate, the $23,790 RAV4 compact is one of Toyota’s best sellers in Canada — and is also made here. Since 2009, the front- or all-wheel-drive, five-passenger, compact crossover has been built at Toyota’s facility in Woodstock, Ont., just west of Cambridge where the Corolla, Matrix and Lexus RX are built.
07.09.13 | 2013, 2014, Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, Chrysler, Dodge, Features, Ford, General Motors, GMC, Honda, Lexus, lists, SRT, Toyota, Volkswagen | Comments Off on Feature: All 22 Canadian-made new cars and trucks for 2013