Report calls for action to bolster auto industry

Continued prosperity of the huge Canadian automotive parts industry depends upon securing new vehicle assembly plant capacity in this country, among other things, according to a report released by the Automotive Parts Manufacturer’s Association. The report, Blueprint for Canadian Automotive Prosperity, recommends that a coalition of government and industry analyze the winning bids for the last eight new automotive assembly plants in North America. The objective would be to gain a better understanding of the decision matrix that each OEM employs when evaluating plant location sites.
Sales in the automotive parts industry declined in 2001 to $32 billion from a high of $36 billion in 2000. The report notes that the decline, while significant, is a lower percentage than that experienced by vehicle assemblers, primarily because two-thirds of Canadian parts production id directly exported. The report’s other recommendations include:

>organizing a separate automotive branch of Industry Canada

>implementing a fully-automated, electronic, secure customs clearing system compatible with U.S. requirements that essentially operates away from the border.

>Expanding lanes on the highway 401 between Toronto and Windsor and building the mid-Niagra highway.

A copy of the report can be obtained from the AMPA website, www.ampa.ca