General Motors Canada, which has unveiled its 2011 Buick Regal, will be putting up to 700 more people to work in Oshawa as demand surges for some of its cars.

"Consumers are turning towards GM in numbers we haven't seen in a while," Marc Comeau, vice-president of sales for GM Canada, told CTV.ca Thursday at the Canadian International Auto Show in Toronto

The show at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre opens to the public on Friday and is expected to draw up to 500,000 people.

GM's good news comes as Toyota, the world's number-one auto maker, suffers through a public relations disaster related to product recalls.

Toyota Canada's Stephen Beatty told reporters the problems were a "very, very rare condition."

Comeau said Toyota's situation is difficult. But if another automaker causes consumers to switch to GM, then that is good for GM, he said.

GM will be starting a second shift at the plant that will produce the 2011 Buick Regal. The midsized sports sedan is modelled after the Opel Insignia, which was named the 2009 European Car of the Year.

Comeau called it good news for both Oshawa and Canada, telling reporters the Regal will help position the Buick brand for the turue.

Along with the Regal, GM will be producing its Chevrolet Equinox, Camaro and GMC Terrain in Oshawa. It's part of the production commitment made by the company as part of its bailout agreement with the Canadian and Ontario governments. The two levels of government provided the auto giant with $10.5 billion in emergency loans.

A fifth vehicle is yet to come.

In late November, the company had said about 600 workers would recalled when production of the Regal commenced.

The Canadian Auto Workers local in Oshawa said at the time that means about half the 1,200 GM workers who had been laid off could be recalled.

GM had closed a truck plant in Oshawa in May 2009 and is planning to shutter a transmission plant in Windsor, Ont.

However, it has boosted production at its CAMI plant in Ingersoll, Ont. and has begun flexible transmission in St. Catharines, Ont. Fuel-efficient, six-speed transmissions for front-wheel-drive vehicles are produced there.

The good news isn't limited to GM. Ford showed off its new Edge and Lincoln, which will be built at its Oakville assembly plant.

Auto analyst Dennis Desrosiers said the worst appears to be over for the North American auto sector, but he offered this caution.

"We're heading back into positive territory, but I don't see a runaway market for a long, long time. We've got a lot of mistakes that we made this past decade that we've got to clean up, and that doesn't happen overnight."

With a report from CTV Toronto's John Musselman and files from The Canadian Press