Automotive News Canada - June 2018 - v2 - 19

* JUNE 2018

walks away from a $500-million investment."

MURKY FUTURE

About 600 workers were on layoff at Oshawa while the
plant was down to one shift. GM is now "ramping up"
a second shift. P H O T O : G M

economy ever since, with
vehicles ranging from the
McLaughlin Buicks to the
Chevrolet Bel Airs to the
Chevy Camaro rolling off
assembly lines over the years
and thousands of workers living comfortably as a result.

'SHREWD INVESTMENT'

What they're doing
can't continue . . . clearly
something other than
what's being done now
has to be found
for Oshawa.

But auto manufacturing
in the city is now mired in
uncertainty, a once unthinkable status for the venerable
TONY FARIA
car town. It was once home to
University of Windsor
two General Motors plants,
one for car assembly and
one for truck assembly. The
shipped from the United
truck plant was shuttered
States.
in 2009 during the depths
"The plant would've been
of the Great Recession and
closed" were it not for the
at a time when fuel prices
investment GM committed
were high and truck
to during the negodemand was low.
tiations, said Unifor
The car factory,
President Jerry Dias.
now known as the
He said the investOshawa Assembly
ment puts the plant
Plant, was on the
- and its 2,500 or
verge of closing in
so workers - on
2016, as production of
a stronger footing
the Buick Regal and
for the future, also
Chevrolet Equinox
pointing to a low
Unifor
were set to end with
Canadian dollar and
President
no replacement prod- Jerry Dias
the plant's highucts slated.
ly rated paint shop
said GM's
Securing new
as examples of fac$500-millionproduct for the plant investment
tors working in the
was the focus of
puts Oshawa plant's favour.
labour negotiations
"GM are shrewd
in a stronger
in 2016 between GM
business peoposition to
and Unifor, a conten- get another
ple," Dias said.
tious round of talks
product line.
"Ultimately, no comthat ultimately led to
pany is going to
the $500-million investment
invest $500 million in their
and the plant doing final
facility that has a world-class
assembly of 2018 Silverado
paint shop, and then someand Sierra pickup bodies
how walk away. Nobody

Spillover production of
General Motors' two big
pickups, the Chevrolet
Silverado and GMC Sierra,
sustains the Oshawa plant
as car sales dip. P H O T O : G M

While assembling two of
the hottest-selling pickups
on the market will work for
the short-term, GM has not
said what it plans to do with
the truck line when it stops
building 2018 Silverados and
Sierras and begins solely
building the new generation.
"What they're doing can't
continue," Faria said, referring to shipping vehicles
to Canada from the United
States for final assembly.
"Clearly something other
than what's being done now
has to be found for Oshawa."
GM Canada spokeswoman Jennifer Wright would not
confirm whether GM plans to
bring new product to the truck
line or whether the $500-million investment signals the
company is committed to
building vehicles at Oshawa
for the long-term, citing company policy to not publicly discuss future production plans.
Wright said the investment "provides [workers]
great flexibility. It gives them
a good strategic advantage."
While questions exist
about the future of automotive manufacturing in
Oshawa, the future of automotive research in the
city appears strong. The
University of Ontario's
Institute of Technology,
for example, is home to
the Automotive Centre
for Excellence, a climatic research centre that was
developed jointly by the university, GM and the federal
and provincial governments.
For Oshawa Mayor John
Henry, such investments are
proof the automotive industry will always have a place
in Oshawa. And as more talk
about Canada's future in the
industry being in research,
as opposed to manufacturing,
that could prove crucial to
the city.
"Those investments signify not only how important
we are to the auto industry,
but more importantly, it's the
auto industry's investments
that show they believe in
this community too, because
they could've done that anywhere," Henry said. - ANC

If it's easier for condo owners to get EV charging stations,
they're more likely to buy an EV, said FleetCarma CEO
Matthew Stevens. P H O T O : B L O O M B E R G

Condo boards block
owners from installing
EV charging stations
But an updated
Ontario law is
intended to cut the
red tape, allowing a
potential spike
in vehicle sales
By PERRY LEFKO

TORONTO CORRESPONDENT

CHANGES TO THE ONTARIO
Condominium Act that are
intended to make it easier for
owners of electric vehicles to
install charging stations could
increase EV sales in the province, according to a Canadian
automotive industry expert
consulted by the provincial
government.
Matthew Stevens, CEO
of the Canadian company
FleetCarma, which provides
EV technology and analysis,
sees the regulatory change as
positive.
"This is a necessary ingredient for us to have a massive option of electric vehicles in Ontario," Stevens told
Automotive News Canada.
"Without this, we know people in condos who aren't able
to charge in their homes are
very unlikely to buy an electric vehicle. We need to have it
in place for us to hit the numbers we're trying to do. It's a
prerequisite."
The Ontario government
has projected to have about
14,000 cumulative sales of new
EVs by the end of 2020.
Total sales for last year
were 7,477, an increase of 120
per cent from the 2016 figure
of 3,400.
"It doesn't have to double
to hit the target this year,"
Stevens said. "It has to go up
by 87 per cent over last year's
number, which isn't nearly as
much growth as in the previous year. There's a reasonable
chance that EV sales target in
Ontario would be crossed in
2018, even though the target is
for 2020."

MORE CHARGERS, MORE SALES
Stevens said the numbers
are ahead of schedule because
of the increasing number of
DC fast-charging stations in
Ontario and the province's
commitment to EVs with
rebates of up to $14,000.

The changes to retrofit
existing condo properties followed several months of meetings last year involving government agencies and stakeholders from the condominium
and EV communities. The government received more than
600 submissions from frustrated condo owners who were
rebuffed when seeking condo-board approval for installation.
The Ontario Condominium
Act, which was enacted in 1998,
had become outdated in terms
of the EV movement and the
Liberal Party's commitment to
a climate change action plan
announced in June 2016.
"The condo market in
our province has changed
dramatically over the last
two decades," said Tracy
MacCharles, minister of government and consumer services, at the media conference in downtown Toronto
announcing the changes.
MacCharles said there is
growing interest among condo
owners in purchasing EVs if
they can charge them at home.

EASIER APPROVAL PROCESS
The changes will prevent
condo boards from rejecting
an owner's request to install
a charging system when the
owner meets certain conditions.
Under the new rules, condo
owners will be allowed to
install a charging system 60
days or more after providing
notice to all owners with certain information about the
installation, subject to two conditions: The cost of the installation is not greater than 10 per
cent of the corporation's annual budgeted common expenses;
and the installation would not
diminish owners' use or enjoyment of their units or common
assets of the corporation.
An owner must make an
application in writing to
the condo corporation that
includes necessary drawings,
specifications and information. The condo corporation is
required to provide information or authorization requested
by the owner to complete the
application.
Owners who have proof they
received a provincial rebate for
buying an EV can receive an
additional $1,000 rebate on their
EV charger. - ANC

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Automotive News Canada - June 2018 - v2