Automotive News Canada - June 2023 - 1

JOHN CAPPELLA: PORSCHE CANADA CEO ON SUSTAINABLE SPORTS CARS/P6
JUNE 2023 | VOL. 7, NO. 6 | AUTOMOTIVENEWS.CA FOR BREAKING NEWS AND DIGITAL EDITION
Stellantis plant drama: The aftershocks of battery investment
By GRACE MACALUSO
and GREG LAYSON
AUTOMOTIVE NEWS CANADA
THE SPAT BETWEEN OTTAWA AND
Stellantis over funding for its Windsor,
Ont., battery-cell plant illustrates the bind
ensnaring politicians:
They must weigh limited
financial resources and
public backlash over billions
of dollars doled out
NEWS
ANALYSIS
to automakers against securing a future
for a sector shifting toward electrification.
Windsor
plant dispute
spotlights the political
pitfalls of the massive
commitment to auto
" At the end of the day, it's a political
decision, " said Stephen MacKenzie,
president of Invest WindsorEssex, the
economic development agency for the
region hosting the $5 billion joint venture
between Stellantis and South Korea's LG
Energy Solution (LGES).
" And the numbers are immense, more
SPECIAL REPORT/P20-21
* The battery supply chain is digging itself into a hole
*
Most EV minerals will come from Asia, not Canada
Mining for
government
money
government
Critical-mineral providers want
what governments have given
the rest of battery supply chain
By DAVID KENNEDY
T ORONTO BUREAU CHIEF
AS GLOBAL AUTOMAKERS
and battery-cell manufacturers
extract billions of dollars in
incentives from the federal and
Ontario governments, early-stage
miners and processors of key
minerals such as lithium and
cobalt are waiting to receive the
same treatment.
Homegrown startups in
Canada's battery supply chain
need funding sooner rather than
later, but both levels of government
have yet to fully deliver on
their critical-mineral pledges,
said Trent Mell, CEO of Torontobased
Electra Battery Materials
Corp.
" It's a lot of cheerleading
and not a lot of funding, " Mell
told Automotive News Canada
on June 1 at the BEV In-Depth:
Mines to Mobility conference in
Sudbury, Ont.
" We roll out the carpet for
Volkswagen and Stellantis, but
that doesn't flow to the Canadian
startups. We should be industry
darlings. "
Electra is partway through
Mell:
There's " a
lot of cheer
-leading
and not
a lot of
funding "
for criticalmineral
projects
such
as
Electra's
refinery,
where work
mostly
stopped
because
of a cash
crunch.
FILE PHOTO
construction
of a cobalt-sulfate
refinery in
Temiskaming
Shores, Ont.,
about 500 kilometres
north
of Toronto. But
problems with
equipment and
higher-than-anticipated
contractor
costs, among
other hurdles,
have led to budget
overruns. In
May, the company
stopped most construction
on-site
as it pursues new
sources of capital.
To date, 3.3 per
cent of Electra's
project costs have
been covered by
federal funding,
said Mell, who has
been in " tough "
negotiations to get that figure up
to 13 per cent. Comparing this to
what's on offer to multinationals
is " exasperating, " he said.
SEE MINING PAGE 20
MacKenzie:
With huge
public
funding, " how
can it not be
a sensitive
topic? "
FILE PHOTO
than any previous numbers
in history. So, certainly,
how can it not be
a sensitive topic. "
Flavio Volpe, president
of the Automotive
Parts Manufacturers'
Association (APMA),
agrees.
" Lots of pushback,
lots of public debate,
a lot of people talking
about other priorities
across this country -
both commercial prioriNEW
DIGITAL
OPPORTUNITY
The transition from internal combustion vehicles has led
to a rush in innovation, investment and new production thinking
INDUSTRY 4.0 SPOTLIGHT/P14
SOCIAL
EXPERIMENT
Facebook, Snapchat,
Instagram, TikTok,
Pinterest ... it seems as if
the list of must-do social
media keeps growing for
dealerships, which must
scramble to keep up with
diverse, and at times fickle,
buyer interests. A General
Motors dealership in
Dartmouth, N.S., has found
a way to tame the social
media beast, however, with
tactics that drive sales and
service. But it didn't do it
alone.
RETAIL BEST PRACTICES/P8
PHOTOS: ISTOCK AND STEELE CHEVROLET-BUICK-GMC-CADILLAC
ties, regional priorities, social priorities, "
he said.
" And it's incumbent on people like me
to explain what the return is on this. "
SPINOFF BENEFITS
Volpe is among the industry stakeholders
taking to the airwaves, arguing that
billions in taxpayer support for automakers
will translate into tens of thousands of
well-paying jobs and ensure a future for
one of Canada's biggest industries.
SEE BATTERY PLANTS PAGE 30
http://www.AUTOMOTIVENEWS.CA http://www.diskloz.ca
Automotive News Canada - June 2023

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Automotive News Canada - June 2023
