Automotive News Canada - January 2021- v2 - 4

SECOND FRONT

3 01.21

* J A N U A R Y 2 021

Magna's
joint-venture
power play
Canada's largest auto-parts
company sees the new LG
tie-up as the gateway
to an emerging EV market

No 2021 auto shows -

now what?

By JOHN IRWIN

AUTOMOTIVE NEWS CANADA

FORESEEING A WORLDWIDE SURGE IN
sales of electric vehicles and hybrids in the
next decade, Magna International is betting on
its powertrain business to
help catapult the Aurora,
Ont.-based global supplier
into an electrified future.
That confidence is evidenced by a forthcoming
US $1-billion joint venture
with South Korea-based
LG Electronics to build
electric motors, inverters and onboard chargers
for customers that will
initially include General
Rucker: Expects
Motors and Jaguar Land
Canada to
Rover.
" We said pre-joint ven- play a role in
ture that it was our target the supplier's
electrification,
to have about a quarter
although the
of our sales coming from
joint venture with
electrified powertrains by LG Electronics
2025, " Tom Rucker, presi- doesn't include
dent of Magna Powertrain, Canadian plants.
told Automotive News
FILE PHOTO
Canada. " This would be
somewhere around [US] $1.2 or $1.5 billion.
" And that was pre-JV, so I think this number is going to grow significantly with the
joint venture. "
The impending partnership, to be called LG
Magna e-Powertrain, is expected to close in
the second quarter of 2021, pending regulatory and shareholder approvals. It will be able to
provide customers individual powertrain components or entire systems, depending on their
needs, Rucker said. GM, for example, will buy
individual components for its own system, he
said.

Even online versions
of the Toronto and
Montreal events are
canceled, which
means dealers and
automakers seek new
consumer attractions
By STEPHANIE WALLCRAFT
TORONTO CORRESPONDENT

DEALERS AND AUTOMAKERS
will have to find other ways of generating buzz for new models in the
wake of auto show cancellations
across Canada, both in-person and
digital.
" I don't know what the effect
will be for retailers ... but it's definitely not going to be a positive
one, " said John Hairabedian, CEO
of the Quebec-based HGregoire
auto group.
" There has to be format [and]
distribution innovation from the
auto shows in collaboration with
the [automakers], and we haven't
really seen that. "
After the pandemic forced the
cancellation of live auto shows
across Canada in September, orga-

BETTING ON EV POWERTRAINS
The components the joint venture produces
are " core to the integrated electric drive sys-

SEE MAGNA'S PAGE 6

Hairabedian: Looking for
collaboration between the auto
shows and the automakers.
FILE PHOTO

Some dealers attend auto
shows as network events. Steve
Chipman, CEO of Birchwood
Automotive Group, was
" disappointed " that the Toronto
auto show was canceled
FILE PHOTO

nizers in markets collaborated
on a shared online platform. In
mid-November, those digital plans
were scrapped due to a lack of
automaker participation.
Both the Toronto and Montreal
auto shows are exploring alternatives under their respective banners.
Luis Pereira, executive director of the Montreal International
Auto Show, said that a one-hour
broadcast TV show titled Zone
Auto is scheduled to be shown
on Quebec-based network TVA
on Feb. 20. The show will be followed by seven web broadcasts
to be released from Feb. 20 to 26.
The TVA show will feature " discussions on the latest innovations,
AJAC [Canadian Car of the Year

TRANS-CANADA NEWS
Bruce group seizes expansion
opportunity with FCA store
MIDDLETON, N.S. - WESTERN
Canada-based Murray Auto Group
has sold its sole Eastern Canada
operation - Murray Dodge in
Yarmouth, N.S. - to Nova Scotiabased Bruce Automotive Group.
The Bruce group is expanding
after buying Nissan and Mazda dealerships in Kentville, N.S., from the
Landry Auto Group a year ago. The
Yarmouth deal brings the Bruce
group's dealership count to 12.

Murray Auto Group, based in
Winnipeg, established Murray
Dodge in late 2014, bringing back
the Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep and Ram
brands to the local market after a
10-year absence.
Bruce group President Justin
Barker views Yarmouth's fishing-based economy as " a viable market " and said the company has been
looking to expand further in southwestern Nova Scotia since buying
the Yarmouth Honda dealership in
2009.
The current staff of 20 at Murray

Dodge " will remain the same, "
Barker said. - Joe Knycha

New 'pathological plastic'
is claimed to kill virus
GUELPH, ONT. - A CANADIAN
subsidiary of Fiat Chrysler
Automobiles said it has developed a
line of plastics it claims can kill the
COVID-19 virus in less than an hour.
CpK Interior Products Inc., a Tier
1 supplier of automotive interior
products, said it developed the material in response to a call to action

category winners], concepts and
prototypes, electric vehicles, road
tests, quizzes, and more to discover, " said Pereira.
Details of the Toronto auto
show's plans were unavailable as
of press time.
Last year, 30 mainstream
brands exhibited at the Canadian
International AutoShow, which
drew 334,000 people, while the
Montreal event attracted 183,149
and 31 mainstream brands.
Dealers outside Canada's largest markets will be less affected
by digital cancellations than they
are by losing in-person shows, said
Steve Chipman, CEO of Birchwood
Automotive Group, which operates 21 dealerships in Manitoba
and Saskatchewan.
" We're more disappointed
that the physical auto show [will
not] take place in Toronto, " said
Chipman. " We use it as an opportunity to meet with manufacturers and make connections from
across the country. ... Everything
we're doing is about online digital
presence as manufacturers and as
dealers now, so we're there. I don't
know why a special event like [a
digital show] was necessary. "
Automakers, including BMW,
Audi and Mercedes-Benz, have
abandoned the auto show circuit
and have staged digital events to
launch new vehicles. Meanwhile,
CIAS organizers said they are
working with auto companies and
other partners still interested " in
providing a dynamic online experience " to reveal their products.

PANDEMIC'S CANCEL CULTURE
The pandemic has wreaked
havoc with auto shows across
the globe. The North American
International Auto Show in
Detroit, for example, has been
postponed twice, and the 2021
show is being replaced with an
outdoor event for car enthusiasts
Sept. 21-26.
In some cases, automakers
waited until the eleventh hour
to decide whether to join CIAS's
online platform.
Subaru Canada decided against
it because the company could not
meet the tight time frames and

SEE LIVE PAGE 6

from FCA to mitigate virus risk.
FCA launched its Healthy Cabin
Initiative, challenging suppliers to
find ways to reduce the risk of contracting the virus in automotive
cabins and alleviate passenger concerns. CpK said it was able to invent
its material, test it successfully and
apply for a patent within 90 days of
the campaign's kickoff.
CpK teamed with the ImPaKT
Facility at London, Ont.-based
Western University's Schulich
School of Medicine & Dentistry to
test the material's effectiveness
against the virus in a Biosafety Level
3 environment. - Steve Mertl
- ANC

Automotive News Canada - January 2021- v2

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