By Mike Gotez

 

Like any auto industry, Canada’s is struggling to adapt to the massive structural changes going on worldwide in the business and manufacture of the automobile. Let’s hope we come out of the other end of this restructuring as winners and innovators. And why shouldn’t we? 

In the meantime, we still build lots of vehicles, and Canadian plants continue to rank high in quality indexes. 

 

 

So let’s quickly review which vehicles on the show floor of the Toronto auto show were built by our Canadian brothers and sisters.

 

 

We’ll start with the two new names on the list, and what’s great about both of them, is that they’re not typical cars.

 

Can Am Spyder 

Okay, this one is not even close to being any kind of car. But it is a road going vehicle, and a very cool one. This three-wheeler is built by Bombardier Recreational Products, in Valcourt, Quebec, on a line right beside the line where the Ski-Doo is built. This is Can Am’s first auto show appearance. Scott MacWilliam, the division’s district sales manager, is confident car show visitors will be drawn to the trike. “The Spyder is blend between a sports car and motorcycle, so it fits well with this audience.”

 

Zenn 

This all-electric car is part of the GTA in Motion display, and is also made in the province of Quebec (St. Jerome), which makes sense, because Quebec is one of the few provinces to legalize these low-speed neighborhood vehicles (NEV), which are governed to go no faster than 40 k/hr.

 

Alliston, Ontario

– Acura CSX

– Acura MDX

– Honda Civic

– Honda Ridgeline 

 

Bramalea, Ontario

– Chrysler 300C

– Dodge Challenger

– Dodge Charger

 

Cambridge, Ontario

– Toyota Corolla 

– Toyota Matrix

*Cambridge is home to Toyota’s manufacturing base in Canada

 

Ingersoll, Ontario

– Chevrolet Equinox 

– Pontiac Torrent 

– Suzuki XL7 

*These crossovers are all built in Ingersoll, Ont., at CAMI, the assembly plant owned jointly by GM and Suzuki.

 

Oakville, Ontario

– Lincoln MKT 

– Lincoln MKX

– Ford Edge 

– Ford Flex

* MKT is making its Canadian premiere in Toronto.

 

Oshawa, Ontario

Cars:

– Buick Allure

– Chevrolet Camaro

– Chevrolet Impala 

* GM Canada’s R&D facility at Oshawa was also responsible for Impala’s last round of engineering updates. Camaro and Allure are all-new, or in the case of the re-born Camaro, all-new again.

 

Trucks:

– Chevrolet Silverado

– GMC Sierra

* These pickups are also made at Oshawa, but not for long. The plant is scheduled to be shut down sometime in 2009.

 

St. Thomas, Ontario

– Ford Crown Victoria

– Lincoln Town Car

– Mercury Grand Marquis 

* Ranked at the very top for North American content — 90 percent of every Crown Vic is made from Canadian or American built parts. The Mercury comes in at 85 percent, and the Lincoln comes in at 80 percent. (Source: National Highway Traffic and Safety Administration).

 

Windsor, Ontario

– Chrysler Town & Country 

– Dodge Grand Caravan

– VW Routan 

* Let’s hope that the electric Town & Country EV concept on display at Toronto gets the go-ahead and finds a home at Windsor also.

 

Woodstock, Ontario

– Lexus RX350

– Toyota RAV4