Automotive News Canada - November 2020 - 1

HOW A BIDEN PRESIDENCY COULD AFFECT AUTO/P4

NOVEMBER 2020 | VOL. 4, NO. 11 | AUTOMOTIVENEWS.CA FOR BREAKING NEWS AND DIGITAL EDITION

Dealers reap higher margins in hot truck market

P13/14

DON

October sales were 82 per cent light trucks, says
J.D. Power, and demand appears to be accelerating

WALKER

RETIRING

By JOHN IRWIN
AUTOMOTIVE NEWS CANADA

PICKUPS, UTILITY VEHICLES AND
vans are on track to make up 80 per
cent of new-vehicle sales in Canada
this year, propping up prices and

gross revenue for dealerships.
Through the first nine months of
2020, light trucks accounted for 79
per cent of all new-vehicle sales compared with 74 per cent a year earlier,
according to the Automotive News
Data Center in Detroit.
But the pace has accelerated. Of

HAT TRICK

$4.9 billion in investments from GM,
Ford and FCA signal a new future
By JOHN IRWIN
AUTOMOTIVE NEWS CANADA

GENERAL MOTORS' PLAN TO
revive its idled Oshawa, Ont.,
assembly plant marks a triple win
for Unifor's Detroit Three 2020 contract talks and could stem a 20-year
decline in Canada's auto industry.
" This is real, sustainable, exciting change " for the Canadian

auto industry, said Flavio Volpe,
president of the Automotive Parts
Manufacturers' Association.
In total, Unifor secured up to $4.9
billion in investments from GM,
Ford Motor Co. and Fiat Chrysler
during 2020 bargaining, far outpacing the roughly $1.6 billion netted in
2016 talks. The new spending is contingent upon funding from the federal and Ontario governments, which
have already contributed $590 million
to Ford's plan for its Oakville plant.
(Government investments for the FCA
and GM projects were not secured as
of press time.)
Since 1999, Canada has fallen from
the world's fifth-largest auto producer by vehicles assembled to 12th as
the bulk of auto investment in North
America flowed to Mexico or the U.S.
South, according to the International
Organization of Motor Vehicle
Manufacturers.
To be sure, question marks hover
over the Canadian industry.

SEE OSHAWA PAGE 29
Unifor President Jerry Dias
delivers the news Nov. 5 that
General Motors will build
Chevrolet and GMC pickups at
Oshawa Assembly. The plant
has been idle since the end of
2019. P H O T O : U N I F O R

BEST DEALERS
IN A NE W E C O N O M Y

SPECIAL SECTION/P18-P25

all new vehicles sold during August,
September and October, 80 per cent
were light trucks, according to J.D.
Power Canada. In October, light-truck
sales rose to 82 per cent, leaving just
18 per cent of the market to passenger cars.
" As we go deeper into the year,

SEE TRANSACTION PAGE 4

FORD OAKVILLE
CRISIS AVERTED
FROM FEAR OF CLOSURE
TO NEARLY $2 BILLION
TO BUILD EVs

THE PLAYERS AND
THE TURNAROUND/P8-9

Does PSA figure
into FCA's plans
for Windsor?
Connecting the dots
on the needs of
both companies as
they prepare to merge
By JOHN IRWIN
AUTOMOTIVE NEWS CANADA

FIAT CHRYSLER AUTOMOBILES'
commitment to spend up to $1.5 billion on its Windsor, Ont., assembly
plant for green-vehicle production
could
offer a
preview
of what's
to come after its merger with French
automaker PSA Group.
As part of a new three-year contract with Unifor, FCA said it would
build battery-electric " and/or " plugin hybrid vehicles on a new platform
beginning in 2024. The plant currently assembles minivans including the

SEE FCA PAGE 28

MOBILITY AT A CROSSROADS
Tuesday * December 8 * 11 AM EST
autonews.com/anshift

IN ASSOCIATION
WITH:

http://www.AUTOMOTIVENEWS.CA http://www.autonews.com/anshift

Automotive News Canada - November 2020

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Automotive News Canada - November 2020