Honda Canada to export CR-V crossover vehicle to Europe
Canadian Plastics
AutomotivePending CETA European trade pact was a key factor in the decision, Honda says.
Taking advantage of Canada’s still-to-be ratified Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) with the European Union, automaker Honda Canada announced plans to produce vehicles for export to Europe for the first time.
Speaking at Honda’s flagship manufacturing plant in Alliston, Ont., on March 30, Honda CEO Jerry Chenkin said the Canada-EU trade deal was the “catalyst” for the plan to export the next generation of the company’s CR-V crossover vehicle to Europe.
“Exporting 40,000 Canadian-made vehicles per year to Europe is good for Honda and it’s good for Canada,” Chenkin said.
Chenkin could not supply a specific date for when Europeans will be able to buy the vehicles but everyone at Honda Canada, he said, was “eagerly awaiting” ratification and implementation of the free trade deal.
Honda is the first Japanese auto company to build vehicles in Canada.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper was on hand at the Honda announcement, and called it “a breakthrough moment….Europe will accept a great many Canadian-built cars – no less than 100,000 – thousands of which are going to be from right here at this plant.”
The CETA free trade deal calls on Europe to remove a 10 per cent tariff on passenger vehicles, but it remains unclear when exactly it will take effect.
