Car FYI

Photo Credit: General Motors of Canada While General Motors is recognized as a company rooted with the United States, the automaker has a strong connection to Canada. Initially entering into a deal to purchase Buick engines for vehicles sold by McLaughlin Motor Car Company in 1907, Canadian businessman R.S. McLaughlin gained a strong working relationship with General Motors’ architect William Durant. After the mutually beneficial Buick agreement, McLaughlin aided Durant in foundation of a new auto brand with Swiss race car driver Louis Chevrolet. The Canadian automotive magnate would not only be instrumental in establishing General Motors of Canada Limited serving as a chairman but was also an executive with the main company headquartered in Detroit. More recently, General Motors’ recovery from its 2009 bankruptcy included between 9 and 11 billion dollars in federal and government of Ontario funds.   After a long intertwined history with Canada, General Motors had made many di...

Photo Credit: Chris Nagy/Car FYI Canada More than ever, we’re aware that the world we know is subject to change. Adaptation during these changing periods is essential for individuals or groups to prosper for the future. Consensus and understanding are necessary to make the first steps along a better path that will ideally benefit everyone. With the automobile being an evolving machine that requires the successful interaction of many parts, the industry behind the construction of high quality vehicles must operate in the collective best interests for the present and the future.  Since 1925, the company now known as Fiat Chrysler Automobile (FCA) and Canadian auto workers have assembled a fleet of great products. The Windsor Assembly Plant has served as the depended upon location for the automaker’s minivan since its inception while the Brampton Assembly Plant (acquired in 1986 after Chrysler Corporation purchased the American Motor Corporation) is currently the home for the Chrysler...

At the beginning of the week, General Motors Canada and the Ontario provincial government gathered stood happily together as the Canadian subsidiary of the major automaker pledged to add 100 high-tech jobs to their Oshawa-based engineering centre. Following the optimistic news in regards to their Engineering Centre , General Motors Canada capped off the work week on a somber note. Resulting from the auto company's decision to move production of the Chevrolet Camaro from the Oshawa Assembly Plant to Lansing, Michigan, the fate of approximately 1,000 of the total 3,600 hourly positions was confirmed with job loss. Unfortunate for Canadian auto workers for General Motors, Oshawa area as well as indirect employment positions dependent on consumer income from the area plant workers, the news did not come as a surprise. It was in December of 2012 that General Motors mentioned moving production to the Chevrolet Camaro south of the border. While not...

This year marks the 50th year that Toyota has operated in the Canadian marketplace. In the decades that followed the introduction of the Crown and Land Cruiser, the auto brand's line-up has become a common sight on Canadian roads. Since 1988, the Toyota corporate entity has been greatly integrated with Canada when they commenced production in Cambridge, Ontario of their popular Corolla. Today, it has been announced a new direction for their North American manufacturing that involves removing production of the Corolla from Canada by 2019. Described corporately as a realignment of North American manufacturing, Toyota's movement of vehicle production will send production of the Corolla to a plant in Mexico. Part of a billion-dollar investment the Mexican state of Guanajuato, Toyota's commitment for producing the Corolla in the country follows a late-2012 decision to co-produce the Canada's Yaris and the United State's i...

Photo Credit: Chris Nagy The future of General Motors production in Canada has been a topic of rumours for the past months. Through this time, we have awaiting some indication from the auto company that Canadian manufacturing would still be a component in their corporate direction. There has been so many negative signs that the subsidiary created by R.S. McLaughlin in the early 20th century could idle their manufacturing intentions in the country after 2016. Production of the Chevrolet Camaro is destined end at Oshawa Car Assembly after this year as assembly shifts to the company's Lansing Grand River Assembly Plant in Michigan. The Cadillac XTS, Chevrolet Impala and Buick Regal are also produced on Oshawa's flexible assembly line by General Motors of Canada for the interim but there's skepticism on whether the current vehicle capacity will warrant giving the plant open, unless other vehicle is added...