Brian Kingston, president and chief executive officer of the Canadian Vehicle Manufacturer’s Association (CVMA), says the Canadian government must step up to ensure Canada maintains its position in the North American automotive industry.
In a recent article Kingston wrote for the Financial Post, he suggests the new investments announced by Ford Motor Co., General Motors Co., and Stellantis NV to transition to building EVs in Canada are not enough to “guarantee Canada will benefit from the shift to electrification.” Kingston added that “We need Canadian government EV policies aligned with those in the U.S. to support the consumer transition to EVs and to maintain Canada’s share of North American automotive investment.”
Globally, automotive manufacturers have invested $300 billion into vehicle electrification and of the $5.7 billion investment made by OEMs here in Canada this past year, $4 billion is for EV assembly.
Kingston points out that investments in EV charging infrastructure and government incentives to help more Canadians purchase an EV should be the government’s main priorities. “More and more new electric vehicles of all sizes are now coming to market with 130 EV models available to Canadians by 2023,” Kingston writes. “Governments have an important role in helping boost the purchase of EVs by Canadians from the less than 5 per cent of total vehicle sales in Canada in the first quarter of 2021.”
Kingston also suggests that the government should “remove internal trade barriers [which] would increase per-capita GDP by almost four per cent and make Canada more attractive for new manufacturing investments.”
