Automotive News Canada - October 2021 - 1

THE OBSTACLES TO CANADA BECOMING A TECH POWERHOUSE/P8
OCTOBER 2021 | VOL. 5, NO. 10 | AUTOMOTIVENEWS.CA FOR BREAKING NEWS AND DIGITAL EDITION
25
By GREG LAYSON
DIGITAL AND MOBILE EDITOR
THE THIRD QUARTER
painted the clearest picture
yet as to how badly the global
microchip shortage is hammering
new-vehicle sales and
inventory across Canada.
And it's only
going to get
worse, say
industry insiders.
In
what
is the closest
apples-to-apples
comparison
since the
COVID-19 pandemic
and
semiconductor
crises began,
light-vehicle
sales totaled
444,651 during
July, August
and September.
Romano:
" If we
had the
product,
we could
be selling
20 per cent
more, at
least. "
FILE PHOTO
That's a 12 per cent drop compared
with the same three
months a year ago.
Until this third-quarter
matchup, comparisons with
2020 sales - heavily affected
by the pandemic - have been
mostly pointless.
SPECIAL
SECTION
2021
BEST
TO WORK FOR
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As well, the global microchip
shortage didn't begin to
seriously
impact
inventory
in the auto
industry
SALES ANALYSIS
Q3 STATS/P44-45
until late 2020. Automakers
across the board attributed
faltering sales to shortages
that have crippled global
supply chains and hampered
assembly lines.
Hyundai Canada had been
one of the brands weathering
the storm, keeping vehicles
on lots and meeting customer
demand. But as of Oct. 6, the
company had 7,000 new vehicles
on back order and would
barely be able to fill the preorders
for the highly anticipated
Ioniq 5 EV in early
2022, said CEO Don Romano.
The brand's third-quarter
sales were down 8.7 per cent.
Causing the decline,
Romano said: " 100 per cent,
limited supply. "
" Our demand is at record
levels, " he said. " If we had
the product, we could be
selling 20 per cent more, at
least. "
In its Oct. 1 Auto News
SEE PRIORITIZING PAGE 43
DEALETRSHIPSO WORK FOR
PAGES 12-36
Low inventory
takes a 12% bite
out of Q3 sales
There's no end in sight to the microchip
shortage, which means a continuing
erosion of what little dealer stock there is
POWERING
AN EV FUTURE
The auto industry is beginning to chart
the path to 100 per cent ZEV sales,
and so are Canada's grid operators
By DAVID KENNEDY
T ORONTO BUREAU CHIEF
THE SEPT. 20 FEDERAL ELECTION PUT JUSTIN
Trudeau's Liberals on a path that's all but guaranteed
to drive the adoption of electric vehicles in Canada. The
party pledged during the campaign to hasten the transition
to zero-emission vehicles, setting a course for half of
new light-duty sales, per year, to be ZEVs by 2030.
The timeline will doubtless challenge the auto
industry and electricity providers, with experts
saying the increase in ZEV adoption will
put pressure on the network, particularly
at peak times. Grid operators and
distributors in
Canada's three most
populous provinces are
confident, however, that the
power lines can keep up.
Independent
Farmer:
Signs are
pointing to
" significant
impact " on
the power
grid.
PHOTO:
LINKEDIN
Electricity System
Operator (IESO), which
runs Ontario's power
grid, has been factoring
EVs into its longterm
energy plans for
more than a decade.
IESO has relied mainly
on government adoption
targets, with a dose
of " skepticism " worked
in, said Chuck Farmer,
IESO vice-president of
planning, conservation
and resource adequacy.
" There was definitely
[uptake] in the sector,
and we were seeing
it, but not really to
the level maybe the targets had put in
place, " Farmer said.
With momentum building, however,
he said IESO is seeing charging networks
expand, auto supply chains get
serious about EVs and the pace of adoption
pick up.
" We think that's setting up the conditions
for this to start to have a significant
impact " on the electricity grid,
Farmer said.
MODEST GROWTH
Still, IESO's latest demand forecast,
released in December 2020, shows it is
preparing for relatively modest growth
in EVs. In its most aggressive demand
scenario, the agency forecasts the number
of EVs in Ontario to reach 700,000
SEE GRADUAL PAGE 40
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Automotive News Canada - October 2021

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