Automotive News Canada - July 2022 - 11

* JULY 2022
11
Champagne makes
the case for EV
investment at 'right
time' for Canada
AFTER WRAPPING UP HIS LATEST INTERNATIONAL TRADE
trip to Japan on July 8, having met with leaders from
Honda, Nissan, Panasonic, Subaru and Toyota, the list of
overseas automakers and battery companies with which
François-Philippe Champagne has not recently shared a
conference table is
getting slim.
DAVID
KENNEDY
TORONTO
BUREAU
CHIEF
Canada's minister
of innovation, science
and industry also
pitched the country
as an investment
destination to BMW,
LG Chem, MercedesBenz
and Volkswagen on two separate tours through
Europe this May.
Immediate results from the three trips were nil, but with
" tectonic shifts " creating new fault lines in the sector,
Champagne said the automakers gave
him the sense that Canada is knocking
on their doors at the " right time. "
" In a world where supply chains are
going from global to regional, where
there's far more emphasis on resiliency
than on pure efficiency, I think Canada
is the only country in the Western world
that has all the critical minerals to build
batteries, " Champagne told reporters on
a conference call from Tokyo on July 8.
How well that pitch resonates with
the laundry list of companies
Champagne met with will be measured
in euro, yen, won and dollars over the
next few years.
Champagne:
Canada is
the only
Western
country
with all
But after an eight-week stretch this
spring that saw $13 billion invested in
Canada's assembly plants and its battery
supply chain, additional spending
The minister's
pitch will be
the critical
minerals
to build
batteries.
FILE PHOTO
measured in euro,
yen, won and
dollars over the
next few years.
looks a bit like running up the score for an industry that
has long been starved of serious investment.
Automakers in Japan and
Germany have taken notice of the
" very solid " battery ecosystem taking
shape in Canada, Champagne said.
With investments already locked in
for electric vehicle assembly, battery
production and cathode active material
plants, Champagne said Canada
can now shift from establishing a
place in North America's battery ecosystem
to optimizing its position.
" It doesn't make much sense to
mine in Africa, refine in Asia and build batteries at home, "
Champagne said, pointing to Canada's one-stop shop for
every step in the EV production process.
Along with Canada's mineral endowment, the industry
minister's soft sell hinges on the country's clean electricity
grid, which gets 82 per cent of its power from non-emitting
sources, far outpacing grids in the United States and
Mexico, its key auto competitors. In the short term,
Champagne added, the global sector will go from focusing
solely on EVs to emphasizing " green " vehicles that take
into account the environmental footprints of resources
used to build them.
While Champagne did not discount the possibility of a
new Canadian assembly plant, he said the focus of the
discussions in Japan was the battery ecosystem. He said
the talks drilled down into " specific opportunities, " but did
not share further details.
Automakers are typically tight-lipped about their production
plans, but there are indications Canada is in the running
for further investment, even from automakers without
a current manufacturing presence.
In April, for instance, Volkswagen CEO for North America
Scott Keogh visited Canada to scout opportunities. The
company has not made any local announcements, but he
said Canada is doing an " amazing job " positioning itself in
the battery supply chain and nothing is " off the table. "
Keeping Canada top of mind for global automakers and
battery firms is among the reasons Champagne said he
continues to " make the case for Canada. " The minister
said he will visit one other major auto and battery powerhouse
in 2022. He plans to visit South Korea later this
year. - ANC
Lamborghini vows that going
electric will still be a gas
Leaders of the
supercar brand
promise a future
where e-motion
still stirs emotions
By JEREMY SINEK
T ORONTO CORRESPONDENT
SUPER-SPORTS-CAR MAKERS
such as Lamborghini sell not just
speed but a sensory and emotional
experience. Can electric motors -
smooth, silent and essentially generic
- replicate the raw charisma and
unique character of high-performance
gasoline engines in their many configurations?
" What's
important is that in the
future you will always see an emotional
Lamborghini, " said the automaker's
head of design, Mitja Borkert.
He accompanied Lamborghini
Americas CEO Andrea Baldi in
Toronto on June 8 to show the Tecnica,
a new variant of the Huracan priced at
$279,630 plus destination fees.
Over the next few years, Baldi
said, Lamborghini plans to hybridize
the next-generation Huracan and
Aventador and the Urus utility vehicle.
In 2028, the Italian brand, now part
of the Volkswagen Group, will add a
fourth model, an electric 2+2 GT.
" Clearly, when it comes to the noise
[which] today is a great element, the
hybridization will not take away that
part, " said Baldi. " We have several
years in front of us where the noise
will still be there for at least three of
our models. It's one of the features our
customers love.
" But also I think our customers are
very much looking forward to seeing
how Lamborghini will be able to
transfer the DNA of a brand like ours
Lamborghini Americas CEO Andrea Baldi, left, and head of design
Mitja Borkert with the $279,630 Huracan Tecnica. SUPPLIED PHOTO
into an electric car. So I'm not too concerned
about that. "
WON'T LOSE THE LOVE
Baldi spoke of " technical opportunities "
to keep some of the " mechanical
complexity " in the car that customers
love, but he did not elaborate.
Will styling also become an even
more important differentiator?
Borkert is adamant that
Lamborghini's consistent design language
makes the cars uniquely identifiable
and will continue to do so.
He cited the cab-forward silhouette
and the way the cabin sides taper
toward the centre, the proportions
determined by the engine behind the
seats.
While powertrain size and position
might be different with electrification,
the basic shape will remain, Borkert
said.
" It's timeless. Our design DNA is so
different to any other brand. We are
doing the spaceships, in a way. "
Rather than require new shapes,
electrification will let existing shapes
and spaces be used in different ways,
Borkert said.
" For example, if you don't have an
exhaust pipe, you can use all the space
on the rear of the car for smart aerodynamics.
If there's no big gearbox, you
can use [that space] for a diffuser that
starts earlier. "
MAKING 'STAR WARS' CARS
This future technology isn't something
to fear " because it will be also
exciting, " Borkert said. " The cars will
maybe sound like a spaceship, like a
'Star Wars' machine. I'm sure those
cars will touch people, just in a different
way than the cars touch you
today. "
Borkert coming to Canada from
Italy for the Tecnica showing was a
nod to the importance of the Canadian
market. Lamborghini sales reached a
record 588 units in pre-pandemic 2019,
according to the Automotive News
Research & Data Center.
Canada is a mature market with " a
particularly interesting concentration
of super-sports-car customers, especially
in Toronto, that is wealthy and obviously
people who can afford anything
that is the best, " Borkert said.
" It's a particularly competitive environment
for us, and we like it. "
- ANC
Survey: Raise rates of interest...in customers
Lenders 'really need to shine'
when the competition is up
and vehicle inventory is down
'CAN'T REMAIN STATUS QUO'
By KELLY TAYLOR
WINNIPEG CORRESPONDENT
AS PANDEMIC-RELATED INVENTORY SHORTAGES
continue to pound the Canadian auto industry, finance
companies are being forced to provide higher levels of service
to dealerships, a new survey suggests.
The combination of plummeting vehicle sales and rising
interest rates is squeezing financial institutions, said
Patrick Roosenberg, director of automotive finance at J.D.
Power Canada, which released the survey in May.
" Everyone is fighting for their share, and it's obviously
more difficult to do in a rising-rate environment, " said
Roosenberg. " Dealers are going to have a lot of lenders to
choose from, and with fewer opportunities, you really need
to shine. "
The J.D. Power 2022 Canada Dealer Satisfaction Survey
found that dealers are demanding quick answers on loan
applications and innovative ways to connect customers
and lenders, Roosenberg said.
That includes quickly approving what he calls " clean
deals, " or those that meet certain income and credit-score
requirements, and quickly and logically restructuring
" challenged " deals to meet those customers' financial situations.
" I
couldn't agree more, " said Andy Wadeson, associate
vice-president of sales and OEM partnerships at TD Auto
Finance. " There's too much competition and not enough
inventory, and we can't remain status quo.
We need some way to evolve to meet the
needs of the customers dealers serve. "
At TD Auto Finance, that has included
adding digital tools such as automated
decision-making and an app - TD Wheels
- that allows customers to shop for new
cars online and get approved for financing,
then makes an introduction to dealers to
facilitate the sale, Wadeson said.
" Our staff worried these [tools] would
be disrupters, " he said, " but we've found
they actually free up our team members to
work on challenging deals. "
Wadeson:
" We need
some way
to evolve
to meet the
needs of the
customers
dealers
serve. "
PHOTO:
LINKEDIN
The J.D. Power survey rated TD Auto
Finance No. 1 in dealership satisfaction in
the noncaptive prime segment, followed
closely by Scotiabank. TD also ranked No.1
in the noncaptive nonprime segment.
Offering prime, near-prime and nonprime
lending gives TD Auto Finance the ability to claim
one-stop shopping regardless of a customer's credit score,
Wadeson said. Prime refers to lending packages offered to
customers with the least risk of default. Near-prime and
nonprime offer different loans, often with higher interest
SEE SPEEDY PAGE 28
Automotive News Canada - July 2022

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Automotive News Canada - July 2022
