Sept. 26 2025 | The week’s top stories and CVMA CEO Brian Kingston on ZEV sales mandates, EV incentives, tariffs

Relationships are at the heart of everything we do,

and we pride ourselves on providing you

with the award-winning satisfaction

you've come to expect from us.

Thank you for rating TD Auto Finance number one

in dealer satisfaction among non-captive,

non-prime lenders with retail credit

for the eighth year in a row.

Contact us today at 1-855-TD-Auto-1

to learn more about our award-winning satisfaction.

For JD Power 2025 award information,

visit jdpower.com slash awards.

Hi everyone, and welcome to the September 26th,

2025 episode of the Automotive News Canada podcast.

I'm your host, Greg Lason,

the digital and mobile editor at Automotive News Canada,

coming to you from just outside Windsor, Ontario,

the automotive capital of Canada.

Today on the show,

I speak with Canadian Vehicle Manufacturers Association

CEO, Brian Kingston.

He represents the interests of the Detroit three in Canada

and he's here to talk electric vehicle sales mandates,

EV incentives, trade and tariffs and more.

But first, a look at some of the top Canadian

automotive stories of the week.

The United States in July collected

about 380 million US dollars in auto tariffs.

That's a steep increase from the previous three months.

US customs had been allowing automakers

to claim exemptions for most vehicles

and parts under the United States,

Mexico, Canada agreement.

Anderson Economic Group says that practice

likely ended in July, says Anderson CEO Patrick Anderson.

We can expect that these costs will become embedded

into the prices consumers are paying

in the very near future.

In retail news, Canada's dealership community

lost another mogul this week.

Vincenzo Vip Palladino died September 23rd

at the age of 95.

He was a fixture of the Ontario auto retail industry

for more than 60 years.

Palladino in 1960 opened the first of three

used vehicle dealerships in Sudbury

that would become known collectively as Vips Car Land.

Today, the group has seven franchise stores

in three Ontario cities.

And finally, a Vancouver Porsche dealership

has filed suit after 13 vehicles were damaged

by a flying tent.

Porsche of Vancouver and its owner

Delari Group of Companies, a legend BC Supreme Court

that the vehicles were damaged when a tent

and its concrete anchor blocks were swept up by the wind

and landed on the vehicles.

The suit alleges the tent was being used

by a nearby film crew.

The plaintiffs claim Kelly's film services,

bright light pictures and lighthouse pictures

were negligent in securing the tent

and failing to check the weather forecast.

None of the claims has been proven in court.

And that's a look at some of the top Canadian

automotive stories of the week

coming up by Speak with Canadian Vehicle Manufacturers

Association CEO Brian Kingston.

Flexible, full spectrum and focused on the future

of this great industry

with over one million customers served

in relationships with over 6,100 dealers nationwide.

We pride ourselves on our competitive programs,

digital solutions and award-winning satisfaction.

We're committed to making it easy to finance a vehicle

and grow your business anywhere, anytime.

Thank you for rating TD Auto Finance number one

in dealer satisfaction among non-captive,

non-prime lenders with retail credit, eight years in a row.

With your continued support,

we were also recognized as number one

in dealer satisfaction among non-captive,

prime lenders with retail credit

in the JD Power 2025 Canada Dealer Financing Satisfaction

Study.

Contact us today at 1-855-TD-AUTO-1

to find out how we can support you

every step of the vehicle buying journey.

For JD Power 2025 award information,

visit jdpower.com slash awards.

Welcome back to the Automotive News Canada Podcast.

I'm your host, Greg Lason,

and I'm now joined by Canadian Vehicle

Manufacturers Association CEO, Brian Kingston.

Brian, thanks for joining me on the podcast this week.

Hey, thanks for having me on. I appreciate it.

Yeah, it's great to have you.

There is a ton to talk about

in the Canadian automotive industry.

You know, let's just start with electric vehicles.

The federal government has paused

its zero emission vehicle sales mandate,

and it's undertaking a 60-day review of that legislation.

What are your thoughts on this early?

Well, first of all, this was the right move.

We've been asking for the government to repeal the mandate

because of the damage it's doing to the automotive industry.

They have recognized that this is not working.

The pause is encouraging, but it's not enough.

This mandate has to go.

There is no other path forward.

We just saw the sales data for July

that is six months in a row of declines of EV sales,

sitting at 7.7 percent,

getting to 20 percent in 2026 and 60 percent in 2030

is not going to happen.

The demand is not there,

and as a result, manufacturers are having to restrict

gas-powered vehicle sales and purchase credits

from companies like Tesla.

It makes no sense. It has to go,

so it's a good first step,

but there's a lot more work to do here.

You mentioned damage.

Can you explain that in layman's terms?

How is this hurting the automotive industry

if there is an electric vehicle sales mandate in Canada?

The way it works is that companies have to

achieve this arbitrary sales ratio

that the government has established.

What will happen is,

if sales don't reach the level

that has been established

for a particular model of years,

20 percent in 2026 and then on to 60 in 2030,

they have to comply

through either restricting gas sales in Canada.

That means that if a dealer wants a certain amount

of gas-powered vehicles

because that's what their local market demands,

they can't receive them

because the company has to meet that sales ratio.

The other compliance avenue is to buy credits

from an automaker that has surplus credits.

The main one, of course, is Tesla.

We're estimating that in excess of $3 billion

will be spent on credits from Tesla

to comply with this regulation.

Completely illogical,

we have an automotive manufacturing industry

here in Canada employing Canadians

and this policy is requiring these companies

to spend money on a company

that has very little footprint

in the Canadian economy.

That's what the mandate does.

It's very damaging.

If the objective is reducing emissions,

we have existing regulations in place to do that.

Let's focus on the barriers to adoption.

Let's not mandate the technology.

We know what you and the automakers

that you represent want to see happen.

What do you think actually happens?

Do we still see a mandate of some sort

with lower percentages

and longer-term goals

rather than 100% by 2035?

Do we see 80% by 2050?

Do you have a sense of where this is going?

One way or another this mandate will be repealed.

If it doesn't happen in the next 60 days,

it will happen at a later date.

It's a policy that doesn't work

and it is extremely duplicative.

We have existing regulations.

I don't see a world in which this remains

in place over the long term.

The question is the timeline.

I think the government recognizes

the industry is under a great deal of pressure.

We have US tariffs.

We have the whole situation with China.

You cannot put self-inflicted damage

into this industry at this time.

I think we'll get to the right place.

Hopefully, it's at the end of the 60-day period.

If not, I will be repealed at some point.

There's another piece to the electric vehicle market

in Canada when it comes to the government.

That is the incentives

for zero-emissions vehicle rebate program

that offered up to $5,000

on the purchase of qualifying electric vehicles.

What's happening to that program?

It's been paused since the beginning of the year.

The federal government has said

it will come back in some way, shape, or form.

What is your sense there?

Does this work hand-in-hand with the sales mandate

or is this something separate?

What do you expect to see from that program moving forward?

It's still uncertain.

Part of the reason we've seen this disruption

in the EV market is because

we had the provincial governments,

BC, and Quebec withdraw their incentives.

Then, of course, the federal government

got rid of the ISEP program

virtually overnight.

Then, to make matters worse,

we had ministers continuing to say

that the program is going to come back.

If you're a Canadian

considering buying an EV

and you're hearing those messages,

you're seeing those articles and incentives

going to come back, but you don't know when,

what happens is those buyers sit on their hands.

They wait for a federal incentive.

We expected one

to potentially come back this year

just based on what the government said

during the election campaign.

We also hear the Prime Minister talking

about an austerity budget.

Record deficits being run

in Ottawa, major spending

commitments on defense.

Our estimates are that an ISEP program

that would put enough

stimulus into the market

to get to the mandated government targets

would cost at least

$900 million in one

fiscal year.

I'm not convinced they're going to bring it back

because I don't know if they have

the capacity to do so,

so we're going to have to work with what we have,

the existing market demand,

and we're really insisting with government

that let's focus and work together on charging infrastructure.

We know that's an ongoing challenge.

Let's get that right.

We'll get more Canadians and EVs.

Okay, so there's no sales mandate.

There might not be incentives.

What is the future for electrification?

Does one exist?

I know I'm putting you on the spot,

but it is the question

outside in that they only exist

because there are incentives

and they're only sold because they're forced to sell them.

Is electrification

the future for automotive?

The future is not

in question.

Electrification is happening.

The only question mark is on what timeline.

Early

forecasts about how quickly

this transition would take place

were very, very optimistic,

and now we're seeing that it's just not

occurring at the pace that was anticipated.

The industry has put

massive investments into this technology,

and I can tell you,

someone who's driving an EV for the past two years,

it is a fantastic technology.

When people make the move,

they make the switch,

they don't go back.

So this is the future,

but we've got to get the preconditions right,

and the main component there

is making sure that people can charge their vehicle

conveniently.

I can tell you that from experience.

If we get that right,

you will see more and more people in EVs.

I think the one other factor here

that's really important to note is that

the government set this target of 100%

EV sales.

That doesn't make sense in Canada.

There are certain use cases

where this technology simply

cannot be applied.

Maybe that will change in time as battery technology

advances, but if you live

in a remote community that's

electricity grid is off a diesel

generator, if you do a lot of towing

in a rural community, you name the example,

maybe an EV isn't going to work for you

right away. So I think we also have to realize

that, but we're going to get to very high levels

of electrification. The question is

how quickly?

It's safe to say that

investments in electrification in Canada,

and you represent the Detroit

3, and so obviously I'm talking about

what's happening in Windsor, for example,

where there is a battery plant

that is fully constructed and

making batteries to some extent

and an assembly plant there that

does make electric vehicles to some extent.

Those are safe,

would you say? They're not

going to shut those down or

turn them or convert them into

something else. It's just going to take longer

before we see them at capacity.

Is that the best assessment? Exactly.

It's just going to take longer.

All you have to do is look around

the world at what's happening in other markets.

This is the future electrification

is happening. There are some unique conditions

in North America that I think make it

challenging to move as quickly to full

electric, namely driving distances

and weather conditions.

But we're going to get there.

That is absolutely going to happen.

In Canada, as you and I have discussed

on a number of occasions, Canada is

perfectly placed as the U.S.

is engaged in this effort

to decouple its economy

from China, from the Chinese

EV supply chain, which

China has significant control of

the global battery supply chain.

Canada is the only jurisdiction

in the whole western hemisphere that has

all of these minerals. So the opportunity

remains significant. Again, the question

is how quickly can we move

and actually make that transition happen.

You talked about North America. You talked

about the global economy, the global

marketplace. We have to talk

about the trade front.

Canada, the United States and Mexico,

all started or said they plan to start

public consultations on the renegotiation

of the United States-Mexico-Canada

agreement or USMCA.

In the layman's terms, what does that

mean for the deal right now

and for auto right now? I know

it's consultations, but kind

of explain to me what this

first step means.

Well, this agreement is all about

one thing and that is

certainty. We need

certainty in the automotive industry and

the broader Canadian economy because we

are so highly integrated

with the United States.

There is no other option. Well, I

appreciate efforts to diversify to other

markets. If we do not have

a stable certain relationship

with the US, the Canadian economy is

in big trouble. So as we start

into this review of the agreement

the objective needs to be

to address any issues that any

of the parties have and to reaffirm

that we're going to keep

Kuzma agreement in place.

That gives companies the certainty

to continue with investments

in Canada, the US and Mexico because

we know the rules of the game. The challenge

we're facing right now is tariff

policy emanating out of the United States

is changing rapidly and sometimes

almost daily. Really hard

for a business like automotive that has

a long-term planning horizon.

So that's what the goal needs to be here. Let's

get through this, address these issues

and continue to work together in

the North American integrated economy.

So in the short term though

there are still US and Canadian

tariffs on autos, it's on critical

metals such as steel,

aluminum, things that are needed in the auto

industry. What happens in the short

term as these consultations start

and these tariffs remain in place

where do we go from here

quarter by quarter? What do you see playing

out until there is a new USMCA?

Well, first of all the costs

are mounting. So the longer we do not

get to some sort of agreement

understanding with the Americans on the

auto tariffs and steel and aluminum

you're going to see the costs mounting

for auto manufacturers. I mean through the

first two quarters of this year

auto companies have posted

12 billion US dollars in

tariff hits. I mean this is

unsustainable. It does not

make for a competitive industry.

So we have to get to some sort

of understanding with the US

ideally before

this whole review process of the

Kusma is underway. That would be the objective

can we secure some sort of agreement

we've heard the Prime Minister talk about

these smaller agreements negotiated with

the US. That should be the objective

let's get these tariffs removed and then

we can focus on some of the more

systematic elements of the trade

agreement that we have in place. But that should be

the objective if not the costs

incurred are just going to continue

to mount and that ultimately means prices

are going up and we have a less competitive

industry. This next

question could have fell on EVs it could

have fell in tariffs it's geopolitical

it's divided the country

explain to

listeners why the

auto industry believes that

removing tariffs on Chinese

made EVs and it's a hundred

percent tariff in fact I think it's a hundred

six point five percent when everything is

calculated. Why removing

that tariff is a bad

idea and what it could potentially

do to the North American auto industry.

Well there's two reasons

first is

China is not playing fair

we can compete with any

other manufacturer any other jurisdiction

if the playing field

is level. But if you look

at what China has done through their

industrial policy state directed

investments and subsidies into their

automotive industry have exceeded

two hundred thirty billion US dollars

from two thousand nine to twenty twenty

three that's probably a low ball

the estimates are likely

even higher when you look at the support

that has gone into the sector and now

what we're seeing is massive over

capacity in the Chinese market

and then these vehicles are dumped into

other markets around the world they flood

the market they take market share and

ultimately displace the domestic industry

so just to give you an example of what

happened in Mexico this year

one of every three new cars sold

in Mexico will be built in China

that's up for just four percent market

share in twenty twenty if you don't

get on top of this early

and keep those vehicles out they will

undermine your domestic industry

and of course China has

very weak labor standards

very weak environment

regulations and as a result

they can produce these vehicles at price

points that are completely below

anything you would see in North America

so that's reason one number two

we're trying to get a deal done with the Americans

the Americans are pivoting away

from China if we suddenly said

you know what we're going to drop the tariff

we're going to work with China have a closer

relationship I can guarantee

you what the response will be from the United States

and it will not be good so for those

two reasons we have to maintain

this policy and we have to

make sure that these vehicles are kept out of the market

so let me play devil's advocate

here and say but we don't make EVs

in Ontario so what's the big deal

and in a sense we don't we make

electrified muscle cars if you will

in Windsor we make commercial

electric vans in Ingersoll

Ontario for a bright drop of GM

a Chevy brand there

but nowhere else really makes

electric vehicles so the

the folks saying

drop the tariffs are saying there is no

EV industry in Ontario what do you say to that

couple things first of all we're creating

an EV industry and if you look at

what we've invested over the past five years

we're up 46 billion

dollars in investment

in Canada largely

in the EV supply chain

and EV manufacturing but it's early days

so we have to give the industry

time to stand up there's no doubt that the

Chinese are ahead because they've been working

on this since 2015

as part of their made in China

industrial policy so we cannot

allow them to come in well the industry is still

very much in its infancy

that's the main reason but again

the US reaction to this

would be extremely concerning

and it would make it very difficult

for us to continue forward

on securing a deal look at what Mexico just

announced they put in place a 50%

tariff on all Chinese

manufactured vehicles because they know

that the North American relationship

is most important last

topic the US

is moving closer to accepting European

safety regulations and safety standards

on European built cars that's

been in discussion over the last month

or so there's been a push to do the same

in Canada where we at

in terms of that accepting

cars that are built in Europe

as is without

sort of needing to hit Canadian

standards it would open up the market

to more choice to more vehicles but are we

close to getting to that and should

Canada harmonize with the United

States when it comes to that matter

yeah so a couple things first of all we've always harmonized

with the US because that's just the basis

of the industry and over 90%

of our production goes into the US

so it made sense and continues to make sense

to have harmonized regs with

the United States now the

US has secured agreements with Japan

Korea and the EU

where they've said that they intend

to recognize each other's

vehicle safety standards

I think we have to watch that play out

will there be a process for that

to happen our negotiations

underway our senses right now

there isn't a great deal of activity

there's an intention to do that

so I think we have to watch what the US does

and work with our American partners

as they approach different

regulatory recognition

agreements with other jurisdictions

but at this stage I'm not seeing a huge amount

of activity on the US side so I think

we have to keep an eye on that and make sure

that we're working together in that approach

Brian always great to have you on the show

I appreciate it thanks for having me

I'd like to thank Brian for his time

if you'd like to be a guest have a suggestion

or simply want to comment

email me at glasenatautonews.com

and remember you can listen to all our

previous podcasts on Spotify, iTunes,

Google Play or on our website

automotivenews.ca

just scroll to the podcast hub

in the middle of our homepage

and don't forget you can follow

Automotive News Canada on X

where we're at

Auto News Canada

and you can find me there too under

at glasen

Finally look for us on LinkedIn

just search Automotive News Canada

that does it for this episode of the

Automotive News Canada podcast

we hope you'll join us next time

so long everybody

Sept. 26 2025 | The week’s top stories and CVMA CEO Brian Kingston on ZEV sales mandates, EV incentives, tariffs

Zevo Bright Drop

About this episode

Original notes