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...

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...

The economic climate in Oshawa has been rather unsettled in recent years. The Canadian city's long-time main employer General Motors has been mum on their plans for the Oshawa Assembly Plant as future production remains uncertain. Providing some relief to Oshawa, General Motors Canada today announced a significant investment into their Engineering Centre. Pledging a new mandate related to the development of connected car systems, environmental and urban mobility solutions, General Motors Canada formalized plans that will lead to more than 100 new jobs in the software and controls engineering sector. Choosing their Canadian Engineering Centre as a innovation hub for future technologies in the automotive industry, General Motors Canada also fortified their support for the cold-weather testing facility in Kapuskasing, Ontario (located approximately a hundred kilometers north of Timmins). The Canadian En...

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...