Automotive News Canada - February 2020 - 26

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26

* F E B R U A R Y 2020

02.20

LETTING LOOSE A BIT ON THE WONDERFUL WORLD OF AUTOMOTIVE

Canadians stampede to Mustang EV
RESERVATIONS ARE
full for the high-end
Mustang Mach-E electric
crossover.
"All First Editions are
sold out in Canada," Ford
Canada told Automotive
News Canada in an email.
The automaker did not
say how many vehicles
that is, however.
The Mach E will
also be available in
base Select, Premium,
California and GT

Performance trims.
Orders are still open for
those models. The Select
starts at $50,495, excluding
delivery charges.
While U.S. customers
had to place a $500 deposit for the Mach-E, that's
not the case north of the
border. Emails to Ford
Canada as to why went
unanswered.
The Mach-E was
unveiled in November
and is the first of more

THIS IS A NEW ONE ...

Ticketed for
flossing teeth
while driving
Ontario police
frown on Tesla
driver who had
both hands off
the wheel while
using Autopilot

JAPANESE ARTIST
Masashi Kishimoto once
said, "A smile is the best way
to get away with trouble, even
if it's a fake one."
Well, he must never
have dealt with the Ontario
Provincial Police in the
Greater Toronto Area,
because clean pearly whites
couldn't win over the traffic cop who issued a careless-driving ticket in January.
That's when a 58-year-old
driver was caught travelling 135 km/h and using both
hands to floss his teeth while
he had his Tesla in Autopilot.
The feature allows the electric
cars to operate without driver intervention in certain situations.
"Autopilot advanced safety
and convenience features are
designed to assist you with
the most burdensome parts
of driving," Tesla says on its
website. "Autopilot introduces new features and improves
existing functionality to make
your Tesla safer and more
capable over time. Autopilot
enables your car to steer,
accelerate and brake automatically within its lane."
However, Ontario law
requires that drivers must be
ready to take control of the
vehicle at all times. In short:
Hands on the wheel and not
on a string of dental floss.
Even the automaker
reminds drivers to stay alert.
"Current Autopilot features require active driver
supervision and do not make
the vehicle autonomous."
- ANC

than a dozen electric vehicles Ford plans to launch
by 2022, with an investment of US $11.5 billion.
The Mach-E's design

was inspired by the classic 1960s Mustang sports
car and is meant to challenge electric-carmaker
Tesla. - ANC

The Mach-E First
Edition didn't last
long: Canadians
have already
snapped up their
allotment.
PHOTO: FORD

One of the two GM workers charged
with reckless driving is from Windsor

WELL,
THAT'S GOING
TO STING
KENTUCKY STATE POLICE
troopers arrested two General
Motors employees - including one Canadian - in
Bowling Green, Ky., after
officers caught the men
racing two 2020 Chevrolet
Corvette Stingrays.
According to arrest
citations obtained by
sibling publication
Automotive News in
Detroit, police charged
Mark Derkatz, 30, of
Windsor, Ont., and
Alexander Thim, 27,
of West Bloomfield
Township, Mich.,
with speeding 26
mph (42 km/h) or
more over the speed
limit, reckless driving and racing a
motor vehicle on a
public highway.
Thim hit a top
speed of 120 mph (193
km/h) and Derkatz
100 mph (161 km/h) in
a 45-mph zone - roughly 70
km/h - the arrest citations said.
The citations said the responding state trooper observed the
speeds from an intersection on
Middle Bridge Road, about eight
kilometres from GM Bowling
Green Assembly, where all
Corvettes are built. Regular production of the 2020 Corvette was
scheduled to begin in February.
"We are aware of an incident
involving our test vehicles and are
currently investigating," GM said
in an emailed statement. "Safety
remains our overriding priority at
General Motors. We have no fur-

ther comment at this time."
Citations for both men said,
"The odour of an alcoholic beverage was present on the breath
of the operator." A preliminary
breath test "detected the presence
of alcohol," the citation continued.
"The party stated that they were
familiar with each other and were
employees of GM."
The men also told police they
had been together at a bar before
the incident. - ANC

SAY WHAT?

'That's
pathetic.'

DENNIS DesROSIERS

Of DesRosiers Automotive Consultants, speaking
about 2019 battery-electric sales of "under 30,000
units sold in a 1.9-million-vehicle marketplace."
Read the story on Page 18 of this issue.

Wheels fit
for a prince?
Harry's and
Meghan's
moving
announcement
prompts a VW
sales pitch
- perhaps
something in
royal blue?

UPON LEARNING
that the Duke and
Duchess of Sussex
were scaling back
their duties as members of the royal family
and leaving England,
Volkswagen USA
tweeted an ad for the
Tiguan crossover:
"The #VWTiguan, the
perfect car for a small
British/American
Family."
The post included
a photo of a Tiguan -
royal blue, of course
- and the caption:
"Fit for a Prince. Or
a prince that doesn't
want to be a prince
anymore."
There's one small
problem with the
pitch, though. Prince

Harry and
Meghan are moving to
Canada part time.
So, now we wait to
see whether the two
have any other automotive suitors.
Will Fiat Chrysler
Automobiles offer up a
Dodge Grand Caravan,
equipped, perhaps,
with the iconic Canada
Value Package. Built
in Windsor (Ontario)?
Or maybe a Nissan
Rogue is a more appropriately named vehicle, given the circumstances? Ford could get
in on the action and
offer up an Escape.
Too bad Dodge killed
the Dart, because it,
too, seems to be named
appropriately. - ANC

1.92M
The number of new
vehicles sold in Canada
in 2019. Although the
total is less than two
million, 2019 is the
fourth straight year of
annual sales greater
than 1.9 million.

THIS
NUMBER
Automotive News Canada - February 2020

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