Automotive News Canada - April 2024 - 1

QUEBEC TO DROP EV REBATES, BUT THE INDUSTRY SAYS IT'S TOO SOON/P4
APRIL 2024 | VOL. 8, NO. 4 | AUTOMOTIVENEWS.CA FOR BREAKING NEWS AND DIGITAL EDITION
Solid quarterly sales belie struggles for luxury brands
By GREG LAYSON
DIGITAL AND MOBILE EDITOR
SALES ANALYSIS
Q1 STATS/P27
AFTER A RED-HOT
start to 2024, cracks -
or, more appropriately,
a single pronounced fissure
- are starting to form in the Canadian
new-vehicle market.
Yes, sales were up 15.3 per cent in
February was up 24.4 per cent, but March was up only 9.2
as a split develops: Many mainstream brands are posting
large gains, while most luxury brands are down
the first quarter compared with the
same period a year ago, according to
DesRosiers Automotive Consultants
(DAC). Automakers sold an estimated
401,000 new vehicles in the first three
months of 2024, DAC said.
And while the quarterly total is higher
than for every year back to 2019 - when
automakers sold an estimated 418,555 vehicles
- there is one significant cause for
concern. March sales were up 9.2 per cent
to 159,000 vehicles, which pales in comparison
with February's gain of 24.4 per cent.
" The March gain seems just a touch
anti-climactic, " DAC said in a statement.
Monthly and quarterly sales figures are
estimates because most automakers only
report every quarter, and Ford Canada
reports annually.
SEE LUXURY PAGE 19
Ford delays
EVs two
years
By DAVID KENNEDY
T ORONTO BUREAU CHIEF
THE LAYOFF TIME FOR
3,200 unionized workers at Oakville
Assembly in
Ontario will at
least triple as
Ford Motor Co.
announced a twoyear
delay to begin
electric-vehicle
production at the
plant.
Payne: Unifor
is focused
on seeing
income
support for
members
extended
for the full
length of the
retooling.
FILE PHOTO
And the fallout
of the major
scheduling change
will extend well
beyond the walls
of the plant, with
workers across the
automotive supply
chain continuing
to bear the brunt
of the auto indusFinal
assembly
assembly
Body
at
Oakville
The company is 're-timing' its three-row
crossovers to 2027 from 2025. The union,
and the governments that provided funding
for the $1.8B project, are watching closely
try's choppy transition to EVs.
" This is a pretty huge decision
with wide-ranging and wide-reaching
impacts on a lot of people, "
Unifor President Lana Payne told
Automotive News Canada.
The union that represents hourly
workers at Ford Canada, as well
as employees at more than a dozen
parts companies that supply
the assembly
FORD'S PLANS
Company will focus on hybrids
amid slowing growth for EVs
PAGE 23
Battery pack
assembly
Paint
Signs point to
Honda battery,
EV production
in Canada
Ford announced in April 2023 that
Oakville Assembly would begin
retooling this spring to build
electric vehicles in 2025. While
the retooling is on schedule, EV
production is not. FORD RENDERING
plant, was told of the decision April
2 in a meeting at Ford's Michigan
headquarters with top company officials
including CEO Jim Farley.
SEE OAKVILLE PAGE 23
The automaker hasn't confirmed
plans, but AutoForecast Solutions
sets the table for an expansion
worth an estimated $18 billion
By GREG LAYSON
DIGITAL AND MOBILE EDITOR
AS THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT
continues talks with Honda Motor Co.
about possible expansion at its assembly
plant in Alliston, Ont., a top forecasting
firm says the automaker plans to build a
new electric vehicle in Canada.
That likely means Honda will build
a battery plant near Alliston, about 100
kilometres northwest of Toronto, Sam
Fiorani, vice-president of U.S.-based
AutoForecast Solutions (AFS), told
Automotive News Canada on March 20.
AFS has a comprehensive automotive
production forecasting database and
often predicts where new-vehicle production
will land.
Fiorani's statements lend further credence
to a January report out of Japan
by Nikkei, the world's largest financial
newspaper, that Honda is weighing a
plan to build an EV plant in Canada at a
cost of up to $18 billion.
Fiorani: It
would make
" perfect
sense "
for Honda
to build a
battery plant
to supply a
new electric
vehicle, but
" the current
state of the
auto industry
is quite in
flux. "
FILE PHOTO
" Yes, they currently have plans for an EV in Canada, "
Fiorani said. " And they're going to need to upgrade their
own plants and likely get local supplies of batteries. So it
would make perfect sense to have a supply of batteries also
in Ontario. "
SEE AFS PAGE 24
http://www.AUTOMOTIVENEWS.CA http://www.diskloz.ca
Automotive News Canada - April 2024

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Automotive News Canada - April 2024
