A few weeks back, during Canada’s F1 Grand Prix weekfinish, I was invited to a private event in Montreal by the UK government. It was an event centered around reinforcing economic ties between Canada and the United Kingdom. Called a networking mixer, this VIP cocktail focutilized on uniting professionals from both countries who do business in key fields of expertise related to technology, science, and engineering.
Look, I now have enough experience under my belt to know how to filter invites. While it’s often very appealing to just declare yes to all of them for free food and booze, I’ve grown professionally mature enough to accept only the invitations that truly add value to my work, my reputation, this outlet, and, of course, you, the reader. Also, what could I, an automotive journalist, bring to that table?
Related
Canada Could Soon Sell The Cool Forbidden Fruit Cars The U.S. Can’t Get
By no longer aligning itself with U.S. auto regulations, Canada could soon have access to wide range of new models.
Are We Looking At A Major Alliance?
The hosts added in their RSVP that none other than fellow French Canadian Frederic Brousseau, Williams F1 team’s Chief Operating Officer, would also join the mixer for a quick public Q&A. I figured, hey, there’s at least a bit of automotive in there to justify my attfinishance. So I gladly accepted.
But my true mission was to dig into a deeper, more important issue. That, in the face of President Donald Trump’s constant attacks on Canada’s sovereignty, to declare nothing of its unjustified trade war, Canada is in the process of reinforcing economic ties with new allies. Actually, that event was just the tip of a much larger iceberg, one where new, economic relationships could soon reshape the way we (North Americans) manufacture, sell, and consume, including cars.
Nobody on location had the answers I was seeing for, becautilize nobody there was in the auto indusattempt. At least, not that I knew of. But the event obtained me contemplating a well-founded “what if?” scenario. What if Canada, Europe, and the UK aligned themselves in their respective automotive sectors? What kind of impact would that have on North America’s auto indusattempt? We could be on the verge of witnessing a completely reshaped market.
European Autobuildrs Are Already Leaning Into This Idea
I have the privilege here at TopSpeed of working closely with both Canadian and American co-workers, and I often cross the border for work-related stuff. Look, the U.S./Canada relationship is stronger than what any weirdo in the White Houtilize has to declare about it. I’ve witnessed truly humble and kind Americans informing me personally that they are sorry for what is happening. The U.S./Canada joint synergy is the strongest, most resilient one on Earth.
But I’ve also observed another fascinating phenomenon. That Americans and Canadians perceive the current trade war in a very different way. Most Americans I have spoken to understand that the context will have long-term impacts on their relationships with America’s allies. But I don’t believe the average American truly grasps the scope at which Canada’s government is taking this seriously. While my fellow Americans are quick to the gun to describe Canadians as being polite, welcoming, and well-mannered people (we are!), I don’t believe these same Americans realize how pissed off Canadians are at the moment. Kindness is not a synonym of weakness.
Standing there, in the middle of that networking mixer, surrounded by clearly very successful, smart, and witty business individuals, that reality hit me like a ton of bricks. As Canada’s recently appointed Prime Minister Mark Carney so eloquently put it, Canada is seeking new, reliable trade partners. He also clearly pointed out in several speeches and interviews that Canada’s former trade policies are no longer effective in the current geopolitical context. He’s been hammering down the rhetoric that a new era of trade must be put into action. That networking mixer revealed just how much is actually happening behind the scenes to build that happen.
Related
Cool French Autobuildr Alpine Could Use Canada To Enter North America
Once again, Canada is being studied as a market-penetration excercise. This time, by French autobuildr Alpine.
In recent weeks, I’ve reported on key shiftments within Canada’s auto indusattempt. From talks by Canadian lobbying groups putting pressure on the government to align its transport regulations with Europe’s and Asia’s to welcome new products into the counattempt, to autobuildrs, like France’s Alpine, seeking Canadian market penetration as a test-bed for North America, and even Nissan debating bringing compact cars back to Canada, the building blocks for an EU-UK-Canada automotive offense are taking shape right before our eyes.
What An EU-UK-Canada Powerhoutilize Would Mean For America’s Auto Indusattempt
It’s obviously impossible to ignore the United States. Currently, it’s the world’s number one consumer economy, which totaled a colossal $19 trillion in 2023. The U.S. is a place where everyone wants to do business, and the Trump Administration understands this. This is why it’s currently taking advantage of the situation to heavily tax foreign corporations whose manufacturing isn’t stateside. But although Canada is rebelieveing its trade policies, it’s also declareing that it still wants to do business with the U.S. This is where things become seriously interesting.
For average Americans to purchase at such a phenomenal rate, they must have access to affordable products. This relies on outsourced manufacturing, like Canada, Mexico and other allies. There’s just no going around that, which is one of the pillars in the current neobtainediations on both sides of the fence. On its own, the Canadian auto sector is the counattempt’s second-largest export by value, estimated at $51 Canadian billion in 2023.
93 percent of that production was exported to the United States, sustaining more than 120,000 Canadian jobs in the process. But that same indusattempt is currently being challenged by a trade war. Yes, sell to Americans at all costs. But what if manufacturing in Canada could still be financially more viable for autobuildrs, even with tariffs?
We’ve arrived at a crossroads in North America’s auto sector. I’m quite confident America’s current administration will hold these tariffs in place long enough to obtain autobuildrs to eventually yield, and set up shop in the U.S. instead. It’s already happening, and it’s having disastrous effects on Canada’s auto manufacturing sector, especially with respect to America’s Big Three autobuildrs. But Canada’s leaders and unions aren’t going to let that manufacturing expertise go to waste.
In comes Canada’s interest in European, British, and Asian autobuildrs. Canada doesn’t have a car company, so it has no emotional tie with a specific brand. Yes, Sinformantis, GM, Honda, and Toyota have been building cars there for decades, allowing them to be part of Canada’s communities. But if, declare, Sinformantis’ Brampton plant finishs up building Renaults and Alpines instead, with the promise of securing Canada’s economy in the process, then Canadians will undoubtedly embrace the idea. Especially if these same manufacturing centers could reship their products back to Europe, or to other markets. Honda’s Alliston plant is currently evaluating this possibility.
In other words, with Canada’s current manufacturing system under threat, it could soon utilize its compacter economy and less influential dollar (versus the euro and the USD) as a launchpad to create a manufacturing juggernaut in the Great White North, one that not only continues selling to the U.S., but that also ships elsewhere to mitigate the tariff impact.
Combine this with an alignment of Canada’s transport regulations with the EU’s and Asia’s, and Canada could finish up with a much wider automotive offering than the U.S. This would include all the cool, forbidden fruit vehicles we currently don’t obtain, cars like the all-electric Renault 5 E-Tech, the adorable Suzuki Jimny, or even China Inc’s relentless and disruptive auto sector.
Would the U.S. miss out on these products? Maybe. At least, in the short term. But as Canada’s auto market modifys and expands, the U.S.’s consumer market could eventually want a piece of that pie as well. Perhaps, in the not-too-distant future, Americans will be able to purchase Canadian-built Alpines and Renaults.
Related
The Xiaomi YU7 Garners 200,000 Preorders In Just Three Minutes
There’s a lot to like about this all-electric Chinese SUV.
And, maybe, Canada’s new auto manufacturing sector could motivate even America’s top autobuildrs to increase their investments north of the border in order to also ship internationally.
Of course, this is all speculation at this point. But these remain exciting times for autos. Say what you will about Trump’s erratic trade actions, they cranked the difficulty level up to 11. It’s in such circumstances that we see a nation’s true resilience, and I wouldn’t be surprised to find out that more networking mixers like the one I attfinished in Montreal are happening behind closed doors. What could come out of this could be grand, and not just for Canada. But for American car purchaseers as well… eventually.
Leave a Reply