Automotive News Canada - June 2019 - v2 - 20

* JUNE 2019

2021 CHEVROLET TRAILBLAZER:

2020 CADILLAC CT4-V: Arriving early next year, according to

GM Canada, is the new compact CT4 sedan to fill the shoes left by
the ATS. The first details available are for the CT4-V performance
model that comes with a 320-horsepower turbocharged 2.7-litre
engine - a four-cylinder, presumably - that also pumps out
369 pound-feet of torque. The compact gets a 10-speed automatic
transmission, magnetic ride control, Brembo front brakes and
a host of performance parts and
equipment. According to GM
Canada, both rear- and allwheel-drive versions will
be available. Cadillac
simultaneously provided specs for the larger
CT5-V, which comes
with 355-horsepower
turbocharged V-6.

B y J E F F M E L N Y C H U K , E D I TO R - I N - C H I E F

VOLKSWAGEN TAROK CONCEPT:

For the past two years at the New York
International Auto Show, VW has been
shopping a truck, implying that it really
wants to build one. In 2018 there was the
Tanoak and this year the Tarok took the
stage. It's reportedly headed for production in South America with a four-cylinder engine and a four-foot bed.
There's no word on whether it
will come to North America.
The Tarok shares the Atlas
utility vehicle's MQB platform,
although the Tarok is about 13
centimetres shorter.

And that makes five. Chevrolet is resurrecting the Trailblazer name for a
utility vehicle that slots between the
tiny Trax and the less-tiny Equinox. The
Trailblazer goes on sale in Canada in
early 2020 and takes heavy design cues
from the new Chevrolet Blazer (larger
than Equinox and smaller than the
Traverse). GM Canada is providing few
details about the Trailblazer, other than
there will be an RS trim with a standard
two-tone roof, pictured. Note that the new
- and similarly sized - Buick Encore
GX arrives at about the same time.

2020 FERRARI SF90 STRADALE:

The new halo car for the
automaker is unique because it's a plug-in hybrid and it has all-wheel drive.
The previous LaFerrari was a hybrid, but did not plug in, and it was rear-wheel
drive. Ferrari says the mid-engine SF90 Stradale - pronounced "Strah-dal-eh"
- can travel up to 24 kilometres on electricity, but the big news is the turbocharged 3.9-litre V-8 plus three electric motors that combine for 986 horsepower. The transmission is an eight-speed with paddle shifters. Ferrari says the
1,575-kilogram SF90 can accelerate to 100 km/h from rest in 2.5 seconds, on the
way to a top speed of about 335 km/h.

2020 BUICK ENCORE GX: This new compact utility vehicle
arrives early next year in Canada to split the difference
between the smaller Encore and the larger
Envision. That brings to four the number of
utility vehicles that Buick sells, the Enclave
being the largest. According to GM Canada,
utilities account for 90 per cent of Buick
sales. Car nameplates include Regal and
LaCrosse. As of this writing, there are no
details relating to exact content, pricing or
powertrains. - ANC

Toyota offers fuel-cell Mirai in second province: B.C.
BY AUTOMOTIVE NEWS CANADA

IT'S FAR FROM A FLOOD - IN FACT,
it's more like a drip - but it's a start.
Satisfied there will be enough
hydrogen refuelling stations in the
Vancouver area, Toyota Canada is making the Mirai fuel-cell electric vehicle
available for purchase by fleet operators in the metropolitan region.
British Columbia is the second province - Quebec was the first - where
Toyota will offer the four-door sedan,
the powertrain of which converts compressed hydrogen to electricity with the
only byproducts being water and heat.
The Mirai has a claimed range of 500
kilometres.
Metro Vancouver has one publicly
accessible retail hydrogen fuelling station, with another slated to open this
year. The federal and B.C. governments
are contributing $3 million to build two
more and it's expected Vancouver and

The Toyota Mirai will be sold to fleets
in B.C., where it qualifies for a $6,000
provincial rebate. At about $70,000,
however, it's too expensive for the
new federal rebate. P H O TO : TO Y O TA

Victoria will have six stations in all
soon, Toyota Canada said.
Toyota began selling the Mirai to
private and government fleet operators
in Quebec
in January.
Sales this
year through
May totalled
53 units. The
Mirai is eligible for up to
$6,000 in B.C. government rebates but
not the new federal incentive because
its roughly $70,000 price is well above
the $45,000 cap.

first-quarter revenue of $101,404, down
from $166,133 for the same period last
year. The drop was attributed to orders
put on hold while added development
work is done on the planned Tofino electric roadster. Electra Meccanica's net
loss soared to about CAD $20.6 million
from $2.4 million, mainly because of the
way its liability was valued related to
the use of Canadian and U.S. currencies,
the company said.

MITSU PICKS DIGITAL-MEDIA PARTNER

JUMP-START FOR SOLO EV IN U.S.
VANCOUVER-BASED ELECTRA
Meccanica Vehicles Corp. has received
approval to participate in California's
Clean Vehicle Rebate Project - providing a US $900 rebate on the Solo electric vehicle, which is offered for a base
price of US $16,250. Oregon has also
approved a US $2,500 rebate for the purchase or lease of the EV.
The approvals come as the company begins mass production of the single-seat Solo in China.
On the intellectual-property front,
Electra Meccanica said it has received
a patent in China for the design of its
proprietary battery cartridge, adding to
patents granted in Europe, Japan and
Canada, and one pending in the United
States.
The Nasdaq-listed company reported

to improve manufacturing.
GreenPower's EV Star Min-eBus
seats 19 passengers and has a claimed
range of 150 miles (about 240 kilometres) on a charge. It can be configured
to use either a 240-volt AC Level 2 charger, or a DC fast-charge system.
GreenPower builds a range of
zero-emission vehicles, such as transit
and school buses, shuttles and a cargo
van.

GreenPower Motor Co. builds a
variety of zero-emission commercial
vehicles. The company plans to
boost production of its EV Star
electric minibus, pictured, to 100
units a quarter. P H O TO : G R E E N P O W E R

EV BUS BUILDER BOOSTS PRODUCTION
GREENPOWER MOTOR CO. SAID IT
has completed a US $4-million brokered
private placement to help boost production of its EV Star electric minibus.
The Vancouver company said it
plans to use most of the proceeds from
the private offering of securities to
increase production to 100 units per
quarter, and is working with suppliers

DEALER-FX OF PALO ALTO, CALIF.,
has signed with Mitsubishi Motor Sales
Canada to be the automaker's preferred
partner for digital marketing of its dealer network in Canada.
Dealer-FX said it will offer services
such as social-media advertising and
management, search-engine marketing, email marketing and reputation
management. For the past nine years,
the company has powered Mitsubishi's
MiCar after-sales technology platform,
along with digital marketing programs.
Dealer-FX CEO Gary Kalk said that
about 90 per cent of vehicle shoppers
do some research online before visiting
a dealership, so it's crucial that dealers be in front of would-be buyers at all
stages of the process.
Dealer-FX - which works with Fiat
Chrysler Automobiles, Nissan, Infiniti,
Toyota, Lexus and Audi, among others - will work directly with each
Mitsubishi dealership to develop effective marketing strategies. - ANC

Automotive News Canada - June 2019 - v2

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