Automotive News Canada - September 2022 - 19

* SEPTEMBER 2022
19
TESLA EXPANSION:
SPARK OF OPTIMISM
In words and deeds,
feds pitch automaker to
grow supply chain here
By DAVID KENNEDY
T ORONTO BUREAU CHIEF
THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT IN
August held talks with Tesla at the company's
Markham, Ont., plant, pitching
Canada as an investment destination that
would help the electric-vehicle maker
develop its green supply chain.
François-Philippe Champagne,
the federal minister of innovation,
science and industry, met
with Tesla officials Aug. 17 in
what his office called early-stage
discussions. The department
would not disclose what type of
operation the U.S.-based company
may be considering for Canada or
with whom Champagne met.
The industry minister's stop at
Tesla Toronto Automation, which
has operations north of Toronto
in both Markham and neighbouring
Richmond Hill, follows recent
changes to the company's lobbying
efforts in Ontario that signal
new priorities for Tesla in
Canada.
The Ontario Ministry of Economic
Development, Job Creation and Trade
would not say whether it has held talks
with Tesla.
" Currently, there are a number of companies
looking at Ontario to set up shop
for their next major investment, and we
continue to work with these companies as
they explore, " said Vanessa De Matteis, a
spokeswoman for Minister Vic Fedeli.
FOOTPRINT'S NEXT STEP
Musk
on Tesla
investment
here: " I
am half
Canadian,
so maybe I
should. "
PHOTO:
BLOOMBERG
An amended filing in July with
the Ontario Office of the Integrity
Commissioner showed Tesla had begun
lobbying the province for changes to
industrial permitting processes as well as
for adjustments to provincial incentive
programs " that could further increase the
attractiveness of Ontario for industrial
and/or advanced manufacturing investment. "
Tesla
gained a manufacturing footprint
in Canada with its 2019 acquisition
of Richmond Hill-based Hibar
Systems Ltd. and last year opened
an additional plant in Markham
that builds battery components.
The company has other ties to
Canada. Tesla collaborates with
Jeff Dahn, a lithium-ion-battery
researcher based at Dalhousie
University in Halifax, funding
much of the research carried out
by Dahn's group. It sources parts
from Canadian suppliers such as
Martinrea International Inc. and
recently disclosed a supply deal
with the mining firm Vale, which
is providing Canadian-mined nickel
for use in Tesla batteries.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk also
recently singled out Canada as a
possible investment destination,
though his comments were made at least
partly in jest.
During a shareholder meeting Aug.
5, Musk said Tesla " might be able to
announce another factory location later
this year. "
He then prompted the crowd to shout
out prospective locations. " We got a lot
of Canadas, " he said as responses echoed
throughout the room. " I am half Canadian,
Tesla's current North American bases of operation are in Austin, Tex., pictured,
and Fremont, Calif. PHOTO: BLOOMBERG
so maybe I should. "
Tesla did not respond to a request for
comment.
Tesla has provided no firm direction
on a location for its next North American
plant but is likely to need one sooner rather
than later if its " staggering " growth is
to continue, said Sam Fiorani, vice-president
of global vehicle forecasting at
AutoForecast Solutions.
" At the current rate, Tesla growth in
North America will begin to taper
in just a couple of years as their
factories approach production
limits, " Fiorani said. " Adding
another plant would provide the
capacity necessary to top one
million units of sales in North
America. "
VOLUME AND AFFORDABILITY
Tesla's primary considerations
in siting a new plant will likely be
volume and affordability, Fiorani
said, and recent changes to how
Canadian governments handle
incentives could attract the automaker's
attention.
Tesla's current bases of operations in Texas
and California, Fiorani said. If the company
were to set up a vehicle assembly plant,
it would also need a battery plant in the
region, he said.
FAMILIAR WITH ONTARIO
Tesla's growing familiarity with
Canada through its automation plants
likely counts for something as well, said
Brendan Sweeney, managing director of
the Trillium Network for Advanced
Manufacturing, which advocates on
behalf of Ontario's manufacturing
sector.
Champagne:
Federal
minister in
FILE PHOTO
" Canada has to be in the running, "
he said. " The Canadian government has
stepped up and decided to fund new companies
coming in there and new projects. This
is something they hadn't done in the past,
and they lost a lot of business because of it. "
Yet Canada is also a long way from
early stages
of talks with
Tesla.
" They've got a toe in the water ...
that has probably given them a bit
of insight into what doing business
is like in Ontario, " Sweeney said.
The province's existing automotive
supply base, clean power grid,
experienced labour pool and availability
of large industrial sites could
also resonate with Tesla, he said.
But what the automaker is looking
to build remains to be seen,
Sweeney said. An " advanced manufacturing "
facility, as indicated in
its updated lobbyist filing, could include any
of Tesla's operations - from auto assembly
and battering manufacturing to parts production
or engineering research - he said.
Nevertheless, any added Tesla footprint
would be a win for Ontario, Sweeney said.
- ANC
Store on the hook for crash injuries from a vehicle not in its possession
By ERIC FREEDMAN
LEGAL CORRESPONDENT
IN A $5.5-MILLION-PLUS LAWSUIT,
a British Columbia Supreme Court justice
found a Victoria dealership partly liable
for damages to a severely injured pedestrian.
A
week before the August 2018 incident,
Harris Victoria Chrysler-Dodge-JeepRam
let a prospective buyer take a Jeep
Cherokee for 10 days before she had qualified
for financing or completed the deal.
The driver was operating the Cherokee
without the purchaser's permission when
he struck Tracy Ann Ward, causing catastrophic
brain damage, Justice Brenda
Brown wrote in the decision. The driver,
who had used drugs the day of the accident,
testified that he probably fell asleep
at the wheel.
Brown held that the dealership still
owned the Cherokee at the time of the
incident and therefore was vicariously liable
for damages.
The dealership is appealing the judgment.
NEGLIGENCE
CLAIM UNWARRANTED
A DISSATISFIED CUSTOMER FAILED
to prove that a Vancouver dealership
made misleading or inaccurate statements
about the warranties it offered on a used
2019 Honda Fit, the British Columbia Civil
Resolution Tribunal has ruled.
The tribunal rejected a bid by
Jozsef Szabo to recoup the $2,843
he paid for an allegedly unnecessary
additional third-party
warranty from Pacific Honda
in December 2020 and a warranty
extension he bought through
another Honda store. The Fit
was covered by the remaining
balance of the manufacturer's new-vehicle
comprehensive warranty, the decision said.
Tribunal member Chad McCarthy said
there was insufficient evidence that Pacific
Honda acted negligently or fraudulently in
how it advertised available warranties and
how it discussed its coverage with Szabo.
Nor was there sufficient evidence that the
dealership was responsible for any confusion
Szabo might have had while selecting
from the warranty choices, McCarthy said.
WORKER CAN'T PROVE BIAS HE FELT
THE HUMAN RIGHTS TRIBUNAL OF
Ontario has tossed out a discrimination
complaint by a former sales and finance
employee, finding no proof that illegal bias
caused his grievances.
Mohammad Destranj worked for
Newmarket-based NewRoads Automotive
Group from October 2017 until his termination
in April 2019, the decision said.
During that period, his complaint
claimed, at least 10 discriminatory incidents
occurred, including a co-worker
" sending an email from Destranj's account,
driving too closely in a car wash and making
unprofessional noises while
using a photocopier. " Other purported
incidents involved " inappropriate
jokes being stuck to his
computer " and a co-worker taking
personal items from his work
area.
However, Destranj failed to
provide a reason why he believed
that his gender expression, gender identity
or creed played a role in those incidents,
tribunal member Karen Mason said. While
Destranj clearly thought that his colleagues
had not treated him with respect, the tribunal
had no authority " to determine matters
of general unfairness, " she wrote.
TIME'S UP FOR REPAIR CLAIM
VOLKSWAGEN GROUP CANADA ISN'T
responsible for the repair bill of an owner
who claimed he wasn't notified of his eligibility
under a 2019 settlement agreement
involving his vehicle's timing chain,
according to the British Columbia Civil
Resolution Tribunal.
Yun Ye leased a new 2011 Tiguan from
VW of Richmond and bought out the lease
in 2015. When the vehicle wouldn't start in
the fall of 2019, Ye paid $2,647 for repairs
that included a " 50-50 and VW customer
goodwill split for cylinder replacement " as
well as the timing-chain work.
A few months later, Ye unsuccessfully
asked VW of Canada for a refund, arguing
that he hadn't been notified of the settlement.
Tribunal
Vice-Chair Shelley Lopez held
that VW wasn't required to notify Ye of the
settlement, nor would compensation have
been given even if Ye had filed a claim on
time because of the goodwill credits and
because the settlement provided only partial
coverage of engine repairs, such as the
cylinder replacement.
Lopez also dismissed Ye's claim against
the dealership.
RULING REJECTS DEFECTIVE-SEAT CLAIM
THE BRITISH COLUMBIA CIVIL
Resolution Tribunal has ruled against a lessee's
assertion that the leather seats in his
2018 Audi Q7 were defective.
Alexander Hayne had filed a $3,000 claim
against Audi Canada and Capilano Auto
Group, of North Vancouver.
Hayne contended that a portion of the
leather on the driver and front passenger
seats started to separate from the underlying
foam in 2020 or 2021. Within the warranty
period, he filed a warranty claim,
including photos, but Audi denied coverage,
concluding that the seat damage " is
consistent with general wear and tear " and
that some separation is necessary for the
cooling seats to work properly.
Hayne's videos show a hand compressing
the seat about an inch, with the
stitching intact, tribunal member Micah
Carmody said in the ruling, but " what is
missing is an explanation of how this slight
separation demonstrates a defect in materials
or work quality. " - ANC
Automotive News Canada - September 2022

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