Automotive News Canada - November 2017 - 30

FINAL ASSEMBLY

11.17
30

* N O V E M B E R 2 017

LETTING LOOSE A BIT ON THE WONDERFUL WORLD OF AUTOMOTIVE

SAY
WHAT?

The end result was not the
result we were hoping for; it
shows the true colours of GM.

THIS NUMBER

Unifor Local 88 Chairman Mike
Van Boekel on the new deal at
the CAMI plant in Ingersoll, Ont.

$1.71 BILLION

The value of Quebec lidar company LedderTech,
making the startup a unicorn - a company valued
at $1 billion or more - in the tech world.

(PHOTO: YOUTUBE SCREENGRAB)

Chevrolet tweets goodbye
to Gord Downie
CHEVROLET CANADA PAID TRIBUTE
to iconic rock star Gord Downie in a single
subtle tweet, after the lead singer of The
Tragically Hip died Oct. 17.
Chevrolet posted on its official Twitter
account a black-and-white image of a treelined highway and the words: "Over 53
years, a kid from Kingston spent his life
on the road, inspiring Canadians with his
music from coast to coast. Today we say
goodbye to an icon. R.I.P."
Chevy ensured the tweet didn't contain
the image of a vehicle or mention Downie
by name.
"We're an iconic company of fans ourselves and this was something that was
important to us and we felt like we should
say something to acknowledge it," Mathew
Palmer, director of communications for
parent company General Motors Canada,
told the Canadian Press.
"Legitimately, ours was a true sense of
mourning at the loss of an icon."
Downie died of incurable brain cancer.
He was 53.
Chevrolet Canada's tweet was similar
to an ad Chevy posted in U.S. newspapers
when legendary musician Prince died in
April 2016. At that time, Chevrolet tweeted
out a picture of a red 1963 Corvette, a nod
to his hit 1982 song "Little Red Corvette."
Chevrolet also ran full-page ads in newspapers across the United States, including The New York Times and The Detroit
News. - ANC

Above, a tweet from Chevrolet Canada honoured the life of Gord Downie, who died Oct. 17.
Chevrolet tweeted to commemorate Prince when
he died in April 2016, top. ( P H O T O : T W I T T E R )

Honda's new friend for life
Buyer of Civic
Type R gets a
surprise in the mail
A CANADIAN HONDA
Civic enthusiast, who goes
by the name Stevescivic on
CivicX.com, recently posted
about the unexpected generosity from Honda Canada
after he bought a Honda
Civic Type R.
"I called [Honda Canada]
to ask for a Type R-specific
brochure because our U.S.
friends can get a free copy of
it straight from Honda U.S.,"
Stevescivic wrote on the
forum.
"The lady on the phone
said, 'We have nothing to
give out to people, including
brochures of any sort.' She
did say she would rummage
around the office to see what
she could find and then this

box shows up at my doorstep!" It contained an official
Honda Canada Civic Type
R sales trifold brochure, a
Type R T-shirt and a prized
1/43 scale Type R model in
Championship White.
"The coolest piece is actually this," Stevescivic said in
a video as he gently removes
the packaging material from
the model.
The TrueScale Miniatures
Limited retails for $55.
"Way. Friggin'. Cool," he
said. "Thank you, Honda.
Oh, my God." - ANC

After being told there was
nothing to give out to the
public, a Civic Type R buyer
received this model in the
mail. ( P H O T O : C I V I C X . C O M )

The concern: Based on its size, the Mercedes-Benz X
class might not be seen as a true luxury pickup in North
America. ( P H O T O : M E R C E D E S - B E N Z )

Superbird soars at Fall Classic auction Mercedes unsure if new
Collectors still
flock to buy Hemi
and wing cars
at auctions

COLLECTOR CAR
Productions (CPP), which has
been in business for 28 years,
sold a 1970 Plymouth Road
Runner Hemi Superbird for
$423,000 - a company record
for that type of car - Oct. 14
at its Toronto Fall Classic Car
Auction at the International
Centre in Mississauga, Ont.
Neither the seller nor the purchaser was revealed.
"When you get a car like
this, you know somebody is
going to know about it and has
been waiting for it to come
up," Terry Lobzun from CCP
told Automotive News Canada.
The Blenheim-based company had a good idea going into

A 1970 Plymouth Road Runner
Hemi Superbird sold for $423,000
at a Toronto auction.
(PHOTO: COLLECTOR CAR
PRODUCTIONS)

the sale that the bright-yellow
car would fetch a solid amount
because it was featured on the
cover of the auction program.
"Hemi cars [with the
426-cubic-inch Hemi engine]
and wing cars [Superbirds
and Charger Daytonas] have
always been strong in the
collector market and this
show-stopping Plymouth Hemi
Superbird has them both,"

CCP wrote in the car's description.
"This is truly a once-in-alifetime chance to own one of
the most admired and desirable cars in the world."
The vehicles were built specifically for homologation for
NASCAR competition. This
specific car was one of 77 manufactured with an automatic
transmission. - ANC

pickup is a fit for Canada
MERCEDES STILL SOUNDS
lukewarm at best about the
prospect of launching the
new X-class midsize pickup
in North America, while not
ruling it out entirely.
At the vehicle's launch
in Chile in October, Volker
Mornhinweg, head of
Mercedes-Benz Vans, said
he believed North American
buyers wouldn't view the
X class as true luxury. It's
about the same size as a GMC
Canyon.
He also said full-size pickups are barely in demand outside of North America.
"The United States is a
pickup country, there's no
doubt about it, but there's
a very strong focus on the
full-size pickups - the huge
ones," said Mornhinweg.

"And when it comes to a premium kind of pickup, it looks
like the first move ... will be
full size."
However, he said there
was no impetus to develop
such a vehicle, partly because
of the challenging U.S. market. General Motors, Ford
and Chrysler dominate with a
combined share of more than
90 per cent. Numbers are similar in Canada. The X class is
"a global product, and that's
important to us - that we
have global opportunities,"
Mornhinweg said.
He added that the company will carefully observe
U.S. demand for the midsize
trucks and he did not rule out
an X-class launch later.
"We are not in a hurry."
- ANC

http://www.CivicX.com http://www.CIVICX.COM

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Automotive News Canada - November 2017