Automotive News Canada - September 2019 - 23

FINAL ASSEMBLY

23
09.19

* S E P T E M B E R 2019

LETTING LOOSE A BIT ON THE WONDERFUL WORLD OF AUTOMOTIVE

An easy way to find out about recalls: Ask Alexa
New service links
inquisitive drivers
to government
database via
voice command

Alexa now has total recall
on vehicle recalls.
Just ask her. P H O T O : A M A Z O N

REMEMBER THAT OLD
iPhone ad, "There's an app
for that"? You should. Heck,

even "Sesame Street" made
a song out of it.
Well, it seems today there
really is an app for everything, such as, "Hey, Alexa,
open vehicle recalls," a
voice command to search
the Transport Canada Motor
Vehicle Safety Recalls
Database.
In late August, the government safety agency launched

Vehicle Recalls Canada, for
free, to work with Amazon
Echo.
Users have only to provide
the make, model and year of
a vehicle to get information
straight from the recalls database. Users who have a phone
number associated with an
Alexa account can receive the
details by text message.
It's slated to run as a six-

month pilot and is one of the
first federal-government uses
of voice assistance to provide
services to Canadians. It also
provides a new way for users
who might have accessibility
challenges.
Vehicle manufacturers
issue about 650 safety
recalls each year in Canada,
affecting more than five
million vehicles. - ANC

Oxford definition of 'car' excludes EVs
So, Jaguar wants
the dictionary
updated so that
the I-Pace can be
called a car, even
though the brand
calls it an SUV

DESPITE BEING NAMED
2019 World Car of the Year,
the Jaguar I-Pace doesn't actually fit the definition of the
word "car," its maker lamented in late August.
That's because the Oxford
Dictionaries' website defines
"car" as "a road vehicle, typically with four wheels, powered by an internal-combustion engine and able to carry
a small number of people."
The I-Pace - which was also

SAY
WHAT?
A lot of the time,
I find Tier II
suppliers are
chasing their tails
a little bit in terms
of trying to
stay afloat.
- John Hunjan of
Global Plas Inc., an
Ontario-based supplier that
builds parts for the Toyota
RAV4 crossover, in a story
at automotivenews.ca
PHOTO: GOVERNMENT
O F O N TA R I O

Definition of "car"
excludes EVs such
as the I-Pace?
Jaguar presses
Oxford for an
update.
PHOTO: JAGUAR

the Automobile Journalists
Association of Canada's
Utility Vehicle of the Year -
indeed has four wheels and
seats five, but it's electric and
not internal combustion.
So, Jaguar said it has - in
what we're starting to think
might be some sort of publicity campaign for the I-Pace -

petitioned the Oxford English
Dictionary to update its definition of "car" to include
EVs. The brand also created the social media hashtag
#RedefineTheCar to invite
suggestions for how the word
should be officially explained.
"A lot of time and thought
is put into the name of any

new vehicle or technology to
ensure it is consumer-friendly, so it's surprising to see
that the definition of the car
is a little outdated," David
Browne, head of the Jaguar
Land Rover naming committee, said in a statement. "We
are therefore inviting the
Oxford English Dictionary
and the Oxford Dictionaries
to update its online classification to reflect the shift from
traditional internal combustion engines towards more
sustainable powertrains."
Jaguar's point, given the
industry's growing push
toward electrification, is
well-taken. But even the
brand's own website does
not describe the I-Pace,
assembled by a subsidiary
of Canadian supplier Magna
International, as a car.
Jaguar calls it an electric
SUV. - ANC

If you can dodge a ball,
you can win a car
The last youth
standing - literally
- will take
home a used
Volkswagen
convertible
IT'S NOT UNHEARD OF FOR
an auto dealer to give away a
vehicle, but Oakville Volkswagen
outside Toronto is adding a twist.
The dealership will hold a
show-and-shine dodgeball tournament in October. After enduring an onslaught of dodgeballs,
the last man or woman standing will win a 1998 Volkswagen
Cabrio.
"Community is a priority for
Oakville Volkswagen, and we're
hoping to get as many Oakville
natives [specifically youth] who
need a car out to our event,"
Sharnelle Kan, social-media marketing manager for the Weins

To win a '98 VW Cabrio, teens
will have to dodge, duck, dip,
dive and dodge ... a lot.
PHOTO: 20TH CENTURY FOX

Canada Inc. auto group, told
InsideHalton.com in an email.
"We understand that many
are likely in need of a vehicle to
get to and from school."
Oakville teens are invited to
show up at the dealership Oct.
6 and, as Patches O'Houlihan
once said in "Dodgeball: A True
Underdog Story," "Remember
the 5 D's of dodgeball: Dodge,
duck, dip, dive and dodge."
- ANC

THIS NUMBER

12M
The number of
cameras Magna's
electronics division
produces in a year,
according to an
automotivenews.ca
story on the
supplier's new
camera factory.
PHOTO:
M A G N A I N T E R N AT I O N A L

Raptors immortalized
with vanity plates
NBA champs
honoured in
museum's
collection with
the phrase
'GOTEAM'

THE CANADIAN
Automotive Museum
in Oshawa, Ont., is just
the latest entity to commemorate the Toronto
Raptors 2019 National
Basketball Association
(NBA) championship,
the first league title to
come north of the border.
In mid-August, two
Conservative MPPs presented the museum with
commemorative vanity
licence plates - emblazoned with the Raptors
logo and the words "Go
Team" - for its collection.

Canada's only NBA
franchise has touched
the country's auto industry through its superfan
- and Toronto Hyundai
dealer - Nav Bhatia
and by making the Ford
Raptor pickup the official vehicle of the team.
Raptor pickups carried Raptors players during the team's
parade, much to the
delight of Ford Canada
CEO Dean Stoneley.
- ANC

Vanity, thy name is NBA
champs.
PHOTO: CANADIAN
AUTOMOTIVE MUSEUM/
FA C E B O O K

http://www.automotivenews.ca http://www.automotivenews.ca http://www.InsideHalton.com

Automotive News Canada - September 2019

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