Automotive News Canada - May 2019 - 4

4

* MAY 2019

Spare tires were wrong for the cars
that dealer staff were inspecting
CONTINUED FROM PA GE 3

"At that point we were done," Fines
said, and police were called.
A similar scene played out at
three other Ontario Ford dealerships in Chelmsford, Collingwood and
Newmarket, all of which reported their
findings to the OPP, Insp. Henderson
said.
Using shipping manifests provided by Ford, three more dealerships
in Quebec (at Thetford Mines, Lévis
and Quebec City) and
one in Woodstock, N.B.
were found to have
received Fusions containing meth-laden spare
tires. In Woodstock, one
Fusion was found with
seven kilograms of meth
packed into a non-spec
spare tire.

Ontario locations. Each reported to
police, resulting in a multi-jurisdictional investigation dubbed Project
Sebright, involving the Canada Border
Security Agency (CBSA), the Sûreté du
Québec, and Woodstock, N.B., municipal police. Ford of Canada provided
additional shipping information that
police used to locate and seize more
meth.
Nine of 14 Fusions
from that shipment -
found at nine individual Ontario Ford dealerships - contained
the drugs, all wrapped
in one-kilogram packages inside non-spec
spare tires.
OPP Supt. Bryan
EXPLOITED PARTIES
MacKillop said that
"We believe that in
working with evithis case, a vehicle mandence gained from the
ufacturer and a rail comfirst reports and with
pany were exploited by
additional shipping
ROB HENDERSON
a well-established crime
information providMajor case manager
group," Henderson said.
ed by Ford, authorifor the Organized Crime
Ford Motor Co. of
ties intercepted more
Enforcement Bureau
Canada declined to make
drugs from a second
an official available to
railcar that was part
discuss the matter but did issue a brief
of the same shipment, finding meth in
statement saying it was "working closesix of the 14 vehicles aboard.
ly with a number of law enforcement
Another shipment stopped at the
agencies."
border by CBSA found 12 of 14 Fusions
An official with the Canada Border
contained the drug in spare tires.
In all, said Henderson, 180 kilograms Security Agency acknowledged the
on-going investigation but would not
"or roughly 400 pounds" of meth were
discuss details.
prevented from circulating in Canada.
The OPP-led investigation continued
MacKillop said at a press conferas this issue went to press. Henderson
ence announcing the investigation in
did not elaborate further other than to
late February that police believe those
say that "some persons of interest have
responsible have since quit this parbeen identified," no charges have yet
ticular smuggling effort, and no more
been laid and no more drugs have been
drugs have been found in spare tires
since. OPP declined to release the list of found. - ANC
dealerships involved, citing safety concerns.

We believe that in
this case, a vehicle
manufacturer and a rail
company were exploited
by a well-established
crime group.

NON-SPEC SPARE TIRES

It was just another business day in
mid-December when staff at Fines Ford
Lincoln in Bolton, Ont. began a routine bumper-to-bumper inspection on
a Mexico-built Fusion that had been
delivered overnight.
Dealership principal Robert Fines
said an employee conducting the
inspection noted that the trunk floor
mat in one of the vehicles did not fit
properly.
Further inspection found that the
spare tire beneath it "didn't come
close" to matching specification for a
Fusion "and was not the proper spare
tire at all," Fines told Automotive News
Canada.
The technician also noticed that the
non-spec tire felt heavier than it should
have, Fines said. He broke it down to
discover the meth hidden inside.

Ford Fusions are shipped by railcar
to Canada from the Ford Motor Co.
assembly plant in Hermosillo,
near the northwest coast of Mexico.
P H O T O : O N TA R I O P R O V I N C I A L P O L I C E

CADA: Dealers not yet vocal about loonie concerns
CONTINUED FROM PA GE 3

assembly plants in Canada.
Most automakers use foreign-exchange hedging to minimize the impact
of currency fluctuations on their business, Adams said.
It's too soon to say what impact the
lower loonie is having on Canadian
new-car dealers, said Oumar Dicko,
an economist with the Canadian
Automobile Dealers Association
(CADA). "We have not heard this concern from our dealers. That's not to say

it's not there."
The Canadian dollar is expected to
end the year at about US 75.5 cents,
said Jennifer Lee, senior economist
with BMO Capital Markets. That could
change depending on how the Canadian
economy performs and whether the
U.S. dollar strengthens.
Sales of new vehicles in Canada are
expected to fall to 1.93 million units
in 2019 from 1.98 million in 2018 and
2017's all-time high of 2.04 million, said
Scotiabank economist Juan Manuel
Herrera. - ANC

TMMC President Fred Volf and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau at the
automaker's recent announcement to assemble the Lexus NX in Canada.
Volf says the Cambridge, Ont., plant pioneered "collaborative robots,"
which keeps it at the forefront of manufacturing. P H O T O : B L O O M B E R G

Toyota Canada views other
Toyota plants as the competition
CONTINUED FROM PA GE 1

VALUE VIA INNOVATION

Volf said TMMC demonstrates
value to Toyota's global leadership by
encouraging innovation at its plants.
By adapting new technologies and
staying on top of what other Toyota
plants in North America and Japan
are doing, he said, the Canadian plants
make sure they do not become outdated.
"Yeah, you've got to be profitable,
but you've got to run an organization
where your people are proud, they
want to come to work and they want to
participate," Volf said. "We make an
environment where it's safe to make
mistakes in innovation or
technology.
"The point is that as long
as you walk away and learn
something from it, so you
can apply it and get better,
it's fine."
TMMC, he said, was a
pioneer in the use of "collaborative robots," which can
operate alongside human
workers at the automaker's
Mark Nantais
A BREAK FROM THE BLEAK
Ontario plants. So far, there
of the CVMA:
Toyota's bet on Canadian Canada has
are 25 such robots, which
manufacturing contrasts with advantages, but
perform repetitive tasks,
bleaker news emerging from they're countered reducing strain on workers
other auto manufacturers in by a higher
and increasing efficiency.
Canada. General Motors, for cost of doing
Toyota's Canadian plants
instance, will end vehicle pro- business.
were the first to implement
duction at its Oshawa, Ont.,
the technology, which was
PHOTO: FILE PHOTO
assembly plant by the end of
eventually adopted by the
2019, while Fiat Chrysler Automobiles
automaker's factories in Japan and
plans to cut one of three shifts at its
the United states, Volf said.
Windsor, Ont., minivan plant to adjust
"We would take some existing techfor falling sales.
nology, say from a technology firm,
Mark Nantais, president of the
but they wouldn't know how to apply
Canadian Vehicle Manufacturers'
it in a manufacturing environment or
Association (CVMA) - which repan automotive environment," he said.
resents GM, Ford and FCA - said
"We would then come up with the
Canada has many advantages over
work and do that."
other jurisdictions, including a highTMMC's competition is not with
ly skilled labour force, supportive gov- other automakers' plants but with
ernments and numerous trade deals.
other Toyota factories vying for new
But high labour costs, red tape and
production mandates, Volf said.
rising electricity prices make Canada
"Our biggest competition is not
a more expensive place to do business
external. It's internal," he said.
than many other countries, Nantais
"Obviously, Toyota makes the same
said.
products in Japan, and we need to
"In many ways, I don't think we're
be competitive with Japan plants in
going to be like Australia in the near
many aspects. And Toyota could make
term," he said, referring to that counthe same products in some of the U.S.
try's defunct auto-manufacturing secplants in the future as more and more
tor. "But as long as we have a negative of the common platform becomes more
cost equation here, that's not going to
prevalent. It's important that we stay
help the situation in the future."
ahead of the pack." - ANC
manufacture," TMMC President Fred
Volf said. "But most importantly, we
demonstrated that we can remain
competitive and build these products
profitably in Canada, and we're constantly improving."
Volf's comments followed Toyota's
announcement in late April that it
will build the Lexus NX and its hybrid
relation at the company's Cambridge,
Ont., plant for the North American
market, beginning in 2022. The utility vehicle will replace production of
the hybrid version of the Toyota RAV4
crossover, which will be move
to Kentucky.
That announcement came
shortly after the company
completed a $1.4-billion investment in its Cambridge operations, including $220 million
in total government support,
in two of its three Canadian
plants, which employ about
8,000 people.
Automotive News Canada - May 2019

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