Automotive News Canada - August 2023 - 1

F&I SPOTLIGHT: NEW REVENUE IN SERVICE CONTRACTS FOR EVS/P6
AUGUST 2023 | VOL. 7, NO. 8 | AUTOMOTIVENEWS.CA FOR BREAKING NEWS AND DIGITAL EDITION
Technician shortage: 'We have a crisis on our hands'
By GREG LAYSON
DIGITAL AND MOBILE EDITOR
A NEW REPORT WILL BE USED AS
ammunition to get help for dealerships
struggling to attract and keep
auto technicians. But the breathtaking
shortage outlined in the study also
raises flags about the treatment of
techs, an off-putting culture in service
departments and negative job stereoAs
a partial solution, MVRO and CADA want
Ottawa to cut the time and expense required
to bring in temporary foreign workers
types that restrict the pipeline of new
recruits.
More than 3,000 positions in the
province were vacant at the end of the
first quarter, according to the report,
titled " The Labour Market for the
Automotive Trades in Ontario and
the Impact on New Car and Truck
Retailers. " Before the pandemic, there
were about 1,500 vacancies.
The report was released Aug. 9
and was commissioned by the Motor
Vehicle Retailers of Ontario (MVRO)
with support from the Canadian
Automobile Dealers Association
(CADA) and prepared by MNP LLP,
a Toronto business consultancy.
" Just about every new-car and
truck retailer I speak to can't hire
an automotive technician today, "
MVRO Executive Director Todd
Bourgon said in a statement. " We
SEE TECHS PAGE 28
DETROIT THREE
BARGAINING
As the Sept. 18
expiration of Unifor's
contract with GM
approaches, workers
at Oshawa Assembly
Plant don't know
whether they'll
continue building
pickups.
PHOTO: GM CANADA
PREVIEW
Unifor looks beyond promises to corporate
profits; top priorities are better wages,
pensions and a future in the EV era
By DAVID KENNEDY
T ORONTO BUREAU CHIEF
NEWS
ANALYSIS
THE AUG. 10 OFFICIAL OPENING OF
bargaining talks between Unifor and the
Detroit Three came as Ford Motor Co.,
General Motors and Stellantis have committed
billions of dollars to new battery
production plants and electric-vehicle
retooling projects
at assembly sites
throughout North
America, including their plants in
Ontario.
The talks also follow an era of high
profits for the automakers, which
have leveraged tight post-pandemic
vehicle inventories to produce record
earnings, fueling high expectations among
union members.
Ahead of bargaining, Unifor repeatedly
flagged higher wages, improved pensions
and support for workers during the industry's
transition to EVs as being among
its top priorities. The current contracts
FORMER UNIFOR PRESIDENT ON THE KEY ISSUES
AUTO WORKERS DESERVE BETTER/P11
With talks under way,
Unifor President Lana
Payne has, so far, taken a
noncombative approach
with the Detroit Three.
FILE PHOTO
expire Sept. 18.
JERRY DIAS
The union also said it
will be seeking a three-year
collective agreement. That
time frame is the same as
the most recent deal struck
in 2020 but bucks the trend
of four-year contracts.
Unlike other rounds of
bargaining stretching back
to 1999, Canadian autoworkSEE
INFLATION PAGE 27
Bourgon:
To find a
solution, a
study was
needed to get
the facts.
FILE PHOTO
GM to add
battery
production
to CAMI
The plant will produce
components for
BrightDrop and Ultium
platform vehicles
By DAVID KENNEDY
T ORONTO BUREAU CHIEF
GENERAL MOTORS WILL BEGIN BUILDING
battery modules and packs in a new addition
to its CAMI Assembly Plant in Ingersoll, Ont.,
by the middle of 2024.
GM disclosed plans on
July 25 for a 400,000-squarefoot
(37,000-square-metre)
expansion that will clear the
way for battery component
production at the site midway
between Toronto and
Windsor, Ont.
The plant built the
Chevrolet Equinox before
it was retooled in 2022 to
build the battery-electric
BrightDrop Zevo delivery
vans.
GM Canada President
Marissa West said the CAMI
West:
Building
battery packs
and modules
accelerates
GM's EV
shift.
FILE PHOTO
plant is playing a " critical role " accelerating
the company's shift into the electric vehicle
era.
" In addition to being Canada's first largescale
EV manufacturing plant, soon the team
will add EV battery module assembly to the
SEE CAMI PAGE 28
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Automotive News Canada - August 2023

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