Automotive News Canada - October 2024 - 46

46
* OCTOBER 2024
Alpha bets
on major
deals abroad
for diverse
auto foothold
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 3
lion-pound (Cdn $862.7-million) purchase
of Lookers, which at the time
had 147 locations across the U.K. and
Ireland.
Following the year of integration
at Lookers, GAH said " the timing is
right to pursue this highly accretive
and attractive acquisition. "
K.W. Bruun is a fourth-generation
family business that traces its automotive
roots back more than a century.
Its
vehicle-import unit handles distribution,
sales and marketing for
Denmark and Sweden for Stellantis
and several other brands under longterm
contracts with the automakers.
It distributes vehicles to a dealership
network of more than 200 stores, most
of which are owned by third parties.
The company's NxT segment
includes a range of digital products
for automotive as well as the shortterm
leasing business and auto repair
chain Quickpoint that has 31 locations
in Demark.
NxT and Quickpoint generated
revenue of 10 billion Danish Krone
(about Cdn $2 billion) in 2023, according
to K.W. Bruun. The company has
three other business units that won't
change hands.
STAFF STATUS QUO
K.W. Bruun, based in Copenhagen,
said the deal will not " entail any
changes for either employees or distributors. "
The executive team,
including CEO Kenneth Hansen, will
remain in place following the acquisition,
GAH added.
The deal remains subject to automaker
approvals, as well as the signoff
of the Danish Competition and
Consumer Authority. The companies
expect the acquisition to close before
the end of 2024. - ANC
Amid CEO succession at supplier
Linamar, success on bottom line
New CEO Jim Jarrell is in
charge of operations while
Linda Hasenfratz focuses
on long-term planning
By GREG LAYSON
and GRACE MACALUSO
AUTOMOTIVE NEWS CANADA
LINAMAR CORP.'S POWERTRAIN
strategy has helped the global supplier ride
out the auto industry's choppy electric-vehicle
transition, said Linda Hasenfratz,
executive chair of the company's board.
" We've spent a lot of time over the last
decade developing products for electrified
vehicles - whether they be battery-electric,
hybrid-electric or fuel-cell-electric
vehicles - with an intent
to have an equivalent level
of content potential in any
type of propulsion vehicle, "
Hasenfratz said in the Oct.
11 Automotive News Canada
podcast.
SCAN
TO LISTEN
" The reason we targeted
that was we felt the transition
to electrification was
not going to be a smooth road
and that it was a little hard to
predict what type of propulsion
would be prevalent. "
Automakers across the globe are delaying
or cancelling EV product launches to
align with vehicle uptake.
" There has been a big dial-back in terms
of electric-vehicle volumes this year, "
Hasenfratz said. " However our hybrid and
internal-combustion programs are running
very strong. "
Linamar, based in Guelph, employs
more than 34,000 people in 75 manufacturing
locations in 19 countries. The supplier
posted revenue of $2.8 billion in the second
quarter, up 11.6 per cent from $2.5 billion in
the same quarter in 2023. Net earnings rose
to $174.1 million from $135 million in the
same period.
HASENFRATZ'S NEW EXECUTIVE ROLE
Linamar underwent a leadership change
when Hasenfratz announced on Aug. 8 that
she was stepping down as CEO - a posiTRANS-CANADA
NEWS 5,000 KILOMETRES
OF STORIES
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 3
Funding intended to plug in
condo, apartment residents
CALGARY - A NEW PILOT
program has launched to aid
the installation of electric vehicle
chargers in condos, apartments,
townhouses and other
multiunit residential buildings.
The first phase of ChargeYYC
offers up to $4,000 to complex
owners to work with a qualified
professional to develop an
EV-charger installation plan
for their multiunit building to
reduce initial costs and tackle
installation complexities.
The second phase, according
to a City of Calgary release, will
begin in 2025 and offer financial
incentives for a limited
number of projects to install
the charging equipment, based
on the recommendations of the
plans from the first phase.
Motor vehicles account for 33
per cent of Calgary's emissions
annually, and a lack of access to
charging is seen as a barrier to
people who want to switch to an
EV, the city said. - Steve Mertl
B.C.'s electric highway
links the entire province
VICTORIA - THE BRITISH
Columbia government made
the final connections for its
so-called electric highway, making
fast charging available on
all highways and major roadways
in the province.
The stations spaced about
150 kilometres apart will let
EV travelers go from B.C.'s
The B.C. government's
network of EV fast chargers
has 155 locations spaced
about 150 kilometres apart
on all major routes in the
province.
PHOTO: GOVERNMENT OF B.C.
northern border with Alaska
all the way to Mexico, switching
over to comparable netHasenfratz:
" There has been a big
dial-back in terms of electric-vehicle
volumes this year. However our hybrid
and internal-combustion programs are
running very strong. " FILE PHOTO
tion she had held since 2002 - and handing
the day-to-day operations to veteran
Linamar executive Jim Jarrell. He joined
the company in 1991 and
has been president since
2004. As CEO, he will head
all operational, financial,
corporate development
and innovation aspects of
the business.
Jarrell:
The new
CEO, says
Hasenfratz,
brings " great
strategic
vision. He
gets things
done in
a really
fantastic
way. "
PHOTO:
LINAMAR
The succession had
been in the works for
about five years, said
Hasenfratz, who will continue
to play " an executive
role " at Linamar.
" I haven't left, " she
said. " My focus is around
long-term strategy of
where the company is
going and spending a lot
of time working with our
plan - on cost-saving
work, energy-saving work
and trying to really instill
the culture of who we are
as a company and maintaining
our investor relations and government
relations lead. "
Hasenfratz addressed a broad range of
issues facing the industry. The interview
has been edited for clarity and length.
works in Washington, Oregon
and California along the way.
The final B.C. sites opened in
September, the government
said in a release.
The network has 155 locations
and more than 300 fast
chargers, with some sites offering
additional Level 2 chargers.
- Steve Mertl
Roadwork closes gap to
planned Ontario lithium mine
PIKANGIKUM FIRST NATION,
Ont. - Construction of about
30 kilometres of all-season road
and a bridge over the Berens
River in the Northwestern part
of the province will help connect
six remote First Nations
communities to the highway
network and bring vital infrastructure
closer to a lithium
mine being developed in the
region.
The Ontario and Canadian
governments partnered
HOW HAVE EV DELAYS AFFECTED
LINAMAR'S GIGA-CASTING PLANT UNDER
CONSTRUCTION IN WELLAND, ONT.?
There has been lots of dial-back in
terms of the EV projects, and our giga
project falls within that realm. So
that has obviously been a challenge,
and it means what else can we be utilizing
that technology for and how
else can we utilize that facility. So
we're actively working toward that.
HAS THE CUSTOMER OF THE PLANT'S
TECHNOLOGY LEFT YOU IN A LURCH?
We would never disclose such
details about a specific program. The
program is caught up
in the delays around
EVs, so the key is how
do we utilize this fantastic
technology's
assets and teams that
we have. We've got
some great prospects on the table.
So, more to come on that in coming
months.
WHAT ARE SOME OF THE REASONS THAT
JIM JARRELL WAS SELECTED AS CEO?
Jim is an amazing executive, one
of the best business leaders I have
had the privilege working with. He
is an amazing negotiator, coach and
mentor of people. He has great strategic
vision. He gets things done in a
really fantastic way - very personal
and engaging - which is why he has
been so successful over his career at
Linamar. And it's why he's going to
be so strong as our CEO.
HOW DOES HIS LEADERSHIP STYLE
DIFFER FROM YOURS?
I think our leadership styles complement
each other. We have worked
together for more than 30 years, so
this isn't something new; we're very
much the same team. I think that
some titles have changed, some rules
have shifted around a little bit, but
we're the same. You're going to see
more of the same great performance
and great growth that we've been
able to deliver over the last 30 years.
-ANC
with the Whitefeather
Forest Community Resource
Management Authority
Aug. 21 on a project that will
bring all-season access to
Pikangikum, a community
about 250 kilometres north of
Kenora, near the Manitoba border.
Local
media said work on the
$76.4 million project is expected
to start in the spring, pending
final budgetary approvals.
Frontier Lithium Inc.,
which is developing a mine
100 kilometres northeast of
Pikangikum, said the roadwork
" will help unlock " the critical
minerals project. Lithium is a
key ingredient of electric-vehicle
batteries.
The company is working
with the two levels of government
and First Nations communities
on two further infrastructure
projects that will provide
all-season access to the planned
mine. - David Kennedy
Automotive News Canada - October 2024

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