Japanese Automakers Pick up slack in Canada; Traditional Detroit Automakers Shrink

[doh]

http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNew...hub=TopStories

CTV.ca News Staff

Japanese-based manufacturers have filled much of the gap left by the traditional North American automakers in production in Canada, says a new study published in the Canadian Economic Observer.


While the so-called Big Three (Ford, Chrysler and General Motors) have suffered, Asian auto manufacturers operating in Canada have sustained output, investment and employment in the industry at a high level -- with a prospect for future growth.


But the study, Canada's Changing Auto Industry, says the gains have largely been underappreciated.


In 2006, Japanese automakers produced about 900,000 automobiles in Canada -- double their level in 1998, which resulted in a jump from 16 per cent market share to 36 per cent.


A similar trend occurred in sales figures.


While exports by North American manufacturers' tumbled, Japanese-owned vehicles built in Canada again picked up much of the slack.

Since 1999, when North American firms exported $51.0 billion worth of product, they have dropped almost one-third. Japanese-owned manufacturers rose one-third in the same time period -- from $10.1 billion to $15.9 billion in 2006.


Only a shortage of production capacity has limited the new domestic manufacturers from closing further in on the Big Three.


Overall, Canadian consumers are now buying almost as many foreign vehicles as North American brands. In the car category, foreign vehicle sales have passed domestic figures.


In 2007, Toyota became the world's top auto seller in the first quarter, stripping GM of its title for the first time in 76 years.

[SkiD666]

Gotta love journalists that don't have good math skills.

51 billion minus a third does not equal 10 billion plus a third, there is actually $10 billion difference in the total numbers (51+10.1 vs. 35 + 15.9). $10 billion equates to a lot of jobs that have been lost.

They also only consider the final value of the vehicles and don't add in all the other economic value from locally produced parts.

[BusyBody]

Doesn't mention how many are employed. I think this is a Toyota PR stunt.

[Havasavana]

Originally Posted by SkiD666

Gotta love journalists that don't have good math skills.

51 billion minus a third does not equal 10 billion plus a third, there is actually $10 billion difference in the total numbers (51+10.1 vs. 35 + 15.9). $10 billion equates to a lot of jobs that have been lost.

They also only consider the final value of the vehicles and don't add in all the other economic value from locally produced parts.

If the 'journalists' got a 1/3 pay cut then a 1/3 increase, they might get it.

[paul8488]

They DID say 'much of the gap' and 'much of the slack', not all of it. The point is that the domestics have lowered production and the imports have raised it. It's a vicious circle... not only are import brands selling better than ever in Canada, but more and more of these vehicles are being built there now. A Toyotya owner now has one more argument for sticking with Toyota... as if the domestics didn't have a hard enough time competing with them already!

[GM-Joe]

this is a garbage article, wasted 5 minutes of my time.

[espo19047]

Originally Posted by GM-Joe

this is a garbage article, wasted 5 minutes of my time.

I'm with you. What is the point of this article? Should people be happy? Is the writer happy?

[tgagneguam]

Originally Posted by paul8488

...The point is that the domestics have lowered production and the imports have raised it. It's a vicious circle... not only are import brands selling better than ever in Canada, but more and more of these vehicles are being built there now. A Toyotya owner now has one more argument for sticking with Toyota... as if the domestics didn't have a hard enough time competing with them already!

There is no joy to be found in the article, but it sounds like you got the point of it, paul8488...

and one day Detroit will get it, too.

[marinerbc]

Originally Posted by tgagneguam

There is no joy to be found in the article, but it sounds like you got the point of it, paul8488...

and one day Detroit will get it, too.

I think that for the North American market at least, that time has come and gone.

If I'm Rick Wagoner, I keep expanding overseas, and just methodically cut production here as demand wanes. That is the only way that GM survives in any form. Nothing can be done now to stop the Japanese from taking the lion's share of the NA market. Their only competition for them here in 10 years will be VW/Porsche/Audi, MB, and BMW.

The war was lost 5 years ago; we just wouldn't acknowlege it.

[Stéphane Dumas]

Maybe they should slow down a bit, what if a big economic slowdown (or even a recession) arrived suddenly? does Toyota and Honda will be forced to do what Carlos did in the Nissan Tennessee plant earlier this Sping, layoffs and/or buyouts or early retirement offer?

[tholland]

Originally Posted by Havasavana

If the 'journalists' got a 1/3 pay cut then a 1/3 increase, they might get it.

LOL... good one.

[mikesright]

Originally Posted by marinerbc

I think that for the North American market at least, that time has come and gone.

If I'm Rick Wagoner, I keep expanding overseas, and just methodically cut production here as demand wanes. That is the only way that GM survives in any form. Nothing can be done now to stop the Japanese from taking the lion's share of the NA market. Their only competition for them here in 10 years will be VW/Porsche/Audi, MB, and BMW.

The war was lost 5 years ago; we just wouldn't acknowlege it.

The war's not lost. GM, in particular, has stopped much of the bleeding, they've been able to cut incentives and stabilize/grow retail marketshare in North America for a year and a half now. Negative articles like this (and negative people in this forum) try to make us lose sight of this, while the past couple of years has been full of progress for GM.

[asim]

Originally Posted by Havasavana

If the 'journalists' got a 1/3 pay cut then a 1/3 increase, they might get it.

No they wouldn't. LOL. They would just end up complaining and crying, and then write a whole story how they got screwed.

[paul8488]

Originally Posted by tgagneguam

There is no joy to be found in the article, but it sounds like you got the point of it, paul8488...

and one day Detroit will get it, too.

Exactly. I'm not happy about it at all... but it's another huge hurdle for the domestics to overcome. How do they build more cars in a country where people are buying fewer of them? All the positive news for the imports about them building more and investing more in Canada works against the domestics, which continues to tilt the field in favour of the imports.

While some don't agree, many people are happy to support the company building in their back yard... would you rather buy a Corolla built in Cambridge, where friends and family might work, or an Optra5 that's built halfway around the world?

I know we've had this argument a hundred times here, but it really is a problem. While a big percentage of import cars are built outside Canada and the US, the only news we here these days is how the imports are increasing North American production while the domestics are lowering it.

[redimpss5]

So who will keep score?