08:47 AM EST, 12/06/2024 (MT Newswires) -- Canadian automobile plants are set to produce about 1.3 million vehicles this year, the lowest level in decades outside the Covid pandemic, as US companies idle factories in the country amid slowing demand, according to a manufacturing think-tank, Bloomberg is reporting Friday.

As recently as 2018, Canadian factories built more than 2 million cars and light trucks. But output has fallen to the point that Mexico is the second-largest supplier of vehicles sold in Canada, the Trillium Network for Advanced Manufacturing said in its report, while Canadian plants have dropped to third.

The US remains the No. 1 manufacturer of cars and trucks sold in the northern nation, by far, Bloomberg noted.

Bloomberg said the numbers from Trillium shed new light on the damage that's been done to Canada's auto industry as Detroit-based automakers lost market share to Asian rivals and struggled with a pivot to electric vehicles.

It noted US President-elect Donald Trump has threatened to impose 25% tariffs on all goods coming from Canada and Mexico, a move that would further hinder a sector that depends on supply chains spanning the three North American trading partners.

But it added while Trump's saber-rattling on tariffs currently hangs over the auto industry, this year's drop in Canadian auto production has more to do with cooling demand for electric vehicles.

It noted Ford Motor Co.'s only Canadian assembly plant, in the Toronto suburb of Oakville, Ontario, isn't producing anything, as the manufacturer had planned a switch to EVs and now finds itself shifting its strategy again. Ford previously said it would make a large electric sport-utility vehicle there, then canceled that plan in April. Now it says it will build F-Series Super Duty pickup trucks in Oakville, but not until 2026.

A Stellantis NV factory in Brampton, Ontario, made its last Chrysler 300C sedan about a year ago, though the plant is meant to ramp up again in the future with a Jeep model, according to previous statements by the company.

And a General Motors Co. plant in Ingersoll, Ontario, is still active but operating well under capacity, making electric commercial vans in a market experiencing weak activity from buyers.

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