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Hi everyone and welcome to the March 13th, 2026 episode of the Automotive News Canada podcast.
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I'm your host, Greg Lason, the digital and mobile editor at Automotive News Canada.
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Coming to you from just outside Windsor, Ontario, the automotive capital of Canada.
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Today on the show, I speak with Unifor President Lana Payne. I caught up with her last week at the
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grand opening of the Next Star Energy Battery Plant in Windsor, Ontario. I asked her about the
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federal and Ontario government's pursuit of new auto investment, particularly the federal approach
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of tying such investment to submarine procurement contracts and Premier Doug Ford's willingness
00:56
to continue subsidizing auto investment. But first, a look at some of the top Canadian
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automotive stories of the week. Volkswagen says it will not tie its Canadian investments to a
01:07
proposed defense deal. CEO Oliver Bloom says the automaker does not link its business decisions to
01:14
unrelated negotiations. He made the comments March 10th in Wolfsburg during the company's
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annual media conference. His remarks come as Ottawa pushes for more auto sector investment.
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Industry Minister Melanie Jolie has tied the prospect of new auto assembly in Canada to a
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submarine procurement worth up to $12 billion. Volkswagen is already building a $7 billion
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battery cell plant in St. Thomas, Ontario, expected to begin production in 2027.
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In EV Retail News, three Chinese automakers are preparing to enter the Canadian market.
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Advisory firm DSMA says BYD, Cherry, and Jolie are working on vehicle certification,
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dealer networks, and financing partnerships ahead of a planned launch. Jason Zhao, DSMA's director
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of Asian market development, says the company's hope vehicles could begin landing in Canada by the
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end of 2026. The move follows a January trade reset between Ottawa and Beijing. Canada will
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allow up to 49,000 China-made electric vehicles into the country under a new quota system.
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But industry experts say vehicle certification could slow things down. Former Toyota Canada
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executive Steven Beatty says automakers starting from scratch might be a year or more away from
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potential approval. And finally, on the product front, Chrysler says a refreshed Pacifica Minivan
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will arrive this summer. The 2027 model gets a redesigned front end, new lighting, and an updated
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Chrysler logo first shown on the Halcyon concept vehicle. In Canada, the entry-level Chrysler Grand
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Caravan will remain in the lineup and keep its current exterior design. Canadian pricing for the
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2027 models will be announced later this year. Minivans remain the brand's core business. Chrysler
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now sells only minivans after dropping the 300 sedan in 2023. All Chrysler minivans were assembled
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at Stellantis' Windsor assembly plant in Windsor, Ontario. And that's a look at some of the top
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Canadian automotive stories of the week. Coming up, my conversation with Uniform President Lana Payne.
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started. The all-new Fusion, automotive retail platform from Keyloop. Welcome back to the Automotive
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News Canada podcast. I'm your host, Greg Lason. We're about to hear a conversation I had with
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Uniform President Lana Payne. But first, let's set the table. At the grand opening of the
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Next Star Energy Battery Plant, I had a chance to ask industry minister Melanie Jolie what evidence
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she had that tying a $12 billion submarine contract to auto investment was going to work,
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especially since neither Bitter from Germany or South Korea have auto making experience.
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Here's what she had to say. Since this week, the Bitter's had to present their entire proposal.
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And so obviously because the procurement process is now in its final mode, I can't
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comment what's going on. But I'll be clear. We want a car plan. I then asked Ontario Premier
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Doug Ford if he had any words of encouragement for Hyundai, which sold nearly 147,000 vehicles in
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Canada last year and was coming off a record February sales month. He lumped all Korean brands
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into one number and made his pitch. Well, there's 200 and roughly last count, I had 230,000 cars
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and anyone who sells 230,000 cars needs to open up a plant here. It's as simple as that.
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They're a quality company, quality people, great cars, but you can't sell 230,000 cars without
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having a strong presence here. So I highly encourage them to come to Ontario. We'll work
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with them. We will support them. We will roll out the red carpet for them, but you can't expect
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you know, those sales without having a strong presence right here in Ontario.
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So what does Uniform President Lana Payne think of all of this? Let's find out.
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I mean, I think it's really important that the auto strategy has one key principle,
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and that is if you sell here, you build here. And what we heard from Premier Ford this morning is
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that he agrees with that. And I think that that's important. We need him to continue to be a champion
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for the sector. I also think it's really important that as the rest of the elements of the auto
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strategy come together, that we're making sure that we are supporting production in Canada. And
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so that those who built here are rewarded in that regard by having market access, obviously,
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but also support to be able to continue to stay in Canada given the tariffs, which are you know,
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causing a massive rupture in everyone's business right now,
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and hurting workers on both sides of the border. So it's important that the final part of that
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strategy, which to me is the one and most important part, which is not quite done yet,
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that we get to the right place. And that means we have to have a system where we are not favouring
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importers over people who are manufacturing here. And if we can't achieve that, then we're going to
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have a major, major problem. We made this deal where they can import all these cars, but they
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don't want the cars we make. So what was the trade off? Was Uniform against that trade deal with
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South Korea? We were very much opposed to the issue of how auto was being used as kind of a
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horse trade in those trade talks. So we got access probably for other things. But what we gave up was,
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you know, basically premier access to the auto industry in Canada and without fences around it.
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And I think that that's a very big problem for us. And we've seen this grow. So once you get a
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foothold in the market, you know, we've gone in a decade or so, 15 years or so from basically
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few cars being sold here to now cars for that would basically fill an assembly plant or two,
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depending on how many shifts you've got there and the automation that would take place there.
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But definitely we need to see companies that are selling that number of cars having a footprint
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here. Last question. Do you believe that this defense strategy, if you want our subcontract,
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you will have a auto factory here. Do you believe that will work? Because
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Manwa has a loose connection to Hyundai. TKSS has no connection really to an automaker.
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How does the government or those two countries force one of their domestic automakers to open
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up shop here? So I think it's going to be a challenge. And I will say this because we have
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an over capacity in the auto sector around the world. And, you know, they will put up a strong
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case about why they shouldn't build here. The other thing is that, you know, 90% of what we
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built here goes to the U.S. market. The reality is just building for Canada is not going to be
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enough. We have to be able to access North America. We have to be able to access the U.S.
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market. And as long as the tariffs are in place, the business case is very tough to be made.
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Unless, you know, obviously there's a ton of government support, which we expect. And there
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is a fund, obviously a strategic fund to help. But the reality is first priority is to keep what
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we've got and make sure that we are not losing one more auto job in this country and then build,
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you know, and improve on the infrastructure that we already have in that case in the footprint
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that we have. Do I think that government should be strategic about what they do with their defense
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dollars and what we get in return? Absolutely. And if we can get an auto plan here, that would be
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fabulous. I'd like to thank Lana for her time. If you'd like to be a guest on the show, have a
10:37
suggestion or simply want to comment, email me at glason at AutoNews.com. And remember,
10:43
you can listen to all our previous podcasts on Spotify, iTunes, Google Play, or on our website,
10:49
automotivenews.ca. Just scroll to the podcast hub in the middle of our homepage. And don't forget,
10:55
you can follow Automotive News Canada on X, where we're at Auto News Canada. You can find me there,
11:01
too, under at glason, A-N-C. And finally, look for us on LinkedIn. Just search Automotive
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News Canada. That does it for this episode of the Automotive News Canada podcast. We hope you'll
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join us next time. So long, everybody.
