Automotive News Canada - February 2021 - 15

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* F E B R U A R Y 2 0 21

Bridge to the future?
Tanguay: It's a chain
'Car czar' says to focus
on suppliers and tech
- not assembly plants
By JEREMY SINEK

TORONTO CORRESPONDENT

my, you're able to overcome those
" We were all remote
accessibility issues. "
after that, " he said.
Still, the group kept the vehicle
" We were on Facebook
somewhat realistic, despite being
messaging each other,
a concept. That's no small feat,
doing video calls with
Gilles said.
each other, texting,
" In some ways, doing a realand collaborating
istic car is actually harder than
online. "
a futuristic one because the
After a few weeks
futuristic ones tend to push the
of 16-hour
rules aside completedays working
ly and have no viabilon the project,
ity to them, " he said.
the group sub " They're just really
mitted its design
there to catch attention
just in time for the
more than to solve any
deadline.
actual problem. "
It's an impressive feat
The group's design
for a group of students
will eventually be realwho do not specifically
ized in some form when
study automotive design.
a prototype is built.
" We mostly design
The APMA in January
products as industrial
issued a request for
designers, " Hallgrimsson Gilles: " I've seen a proposal (RFP) to comlot of talent in my
said. " Designing a car
panies that want to
time and I think
is another thing that we
contribute to the vehiI'm qualified to
think about and dream
cle's production. Volpe
say these students said he expected more
about, but we never get
here are some of
to do it. There are peothan 200 Canadian comple who take full master's the most talented
panies to bid to work
I've seen. "
programs to become car
on the vehicle by the
FILE PHOTO
designers, and typically
RFP's March 1 deadthey're kind of just stylline. The APMA wants
ists. "
a prototype on tour by 2022.
Hallgrimsson, Kim, Morcos and
OUTSIDER'S VIEWPOINT
Schuetz will remain involved with
the project in consulting roles,
The group approached the projhelping steer the direction of the
ect from an outsider's point of
vehicle's ultimate design.
view, looking at how vehicle design
The APMA hopes the crossover
should adapt as electric and autonwill serve as the auto industry's
omous technology come online,
" best business card, " showcasing
Hallgrimsson said.
the capabilities of Canadian com " We take a human-centred design
panies, engineers and designers.
approach. We look at what peo " Not only am I telling you we
ple's needs are and explore a bunch
can make a car here, " Volpe said,
of opportunities that we can use to
" we did. Look, I'm showing you. "
address those needs.
" With cars, there are a lot of
- ANC
- Greg Layson contributed
accessibility features that are kind
to this report
of missing for people. With autono-

Project Arrow is an effort by the APMA to create a concept
vehicle that can become the " best business card " to promote
the work of the Canadian auto industry. P H O T O : A P M A

CANADA'S AUTOMOTIVE FUTURE
is not in luring new vehicle assembly
plants but in the supply chain's ability to adapt to a self-driving and electric technologies, says Ray Tanguay,
the former Toyota executive and federal and provincial auto adviser.
It's unlikely that Canada will
attract new auto plants primarily because North America already
has more than enough, Tanguay told
Automotive News Canada. That leaves
the focus on the supply chain.
" I think to
get major investment in new
plants anywhere
is going to be
a major challenge. That's
why in Ontario
it's important to
maintain a certain footprint in
your assembly
plants because
Tanguay: Canada's that's how you
can maintain a
auto industry
cluster of supplishould initially
ers. And withfocus on the
development
out the clusters,
of electric
eventually you
commercial
will disappear.
vehicles as the
" We have to
path toward an EV build the clusfuture. F I L E P H O T O
ter of the future
technology in
Ontario if we want to remain relevant. "
Few people are better qualified to
address Canada's automotive future.
Before becoming the " car czar "
in 2015, Tanguay was president of
Toyota Motor Manufacturing Canada
(TMMC). During his rise through
the ranks at Toyota, which he joined
in 1991, the TMMC assembly plant
in Cambridge, Ont., expanded many
times over and garnered multiple J.D.
Power quality awards.
After retiring from TMMC,
Tanguay spent the next three years as
the federal and Ontario governments'
adviser on attracting automotive
investment. Tanguay said his contributions came to fruition during the
recent Detroit Three-Unifor contract
talks, which netted almost $6 billion
in new investments in Canada.
One key element: his recommendation that governments support investment with grants, not loans.
Since delivering his report, " Drive
to Win, " in 2018, the 71-year-old has
not slowed down. Tanguay sits on
three boards and three advisory councils and remains involved with the
University of Waterloo in Ontario.
Tanguay now divides his time
between Kitchener and Wasaga Beach,
Ont. He drives a Lexus RC F coupe that
has seen occasional track time and an
RX 450h crossover. He sold his snowmobile a few years ago but still rides a
couple of Harley-Davidson motorcycles
in the warmer months.
Tanguay commented on a range of
issues:

HIS LEGACY AS AUTO ADVISER
I'm very, very pleased with the outcome. I spent a tremendous amount of
time to have a better understanding of the
issues [and] engage all the stakeholders.
When it came time for
the report, there was not
a lot of pushback because
everybody - federal and
provincial government,
[automakers], Tier Ones
and labour - gave their
stamp of approval that
this report reflected what they thought
was important.
As a result, the federal government
took my report, and it became part of their
strategic plan. The provincial government
[made it] their auto strategy directly.

WHAT ABOUT " CORPORATE WELFARE " ?
You always have to compete for investment. You can be a purist, but that's not
the way you win the game.
The incentive was one of the major
things I pushed ... to change the federal incentive from interest-free loans to a
grant form.
People may say, " Who are you to give
money to rich companies? " Well, do you
want the jobs or not? And the payback on
those investments is easy to calculate. In
less than a year and a half, you can pay
back that money in the revenue that you
generate. "

WHAT CHALLENGES REMAIN?
When we talk about safety and autonomous vehicles, that requires major
investment into the high-speed communication network. Without that we are
not going to be able to deploy some of that
technology.
The biggest concern I have is that
when governments start talking about
not wanting internal-combustion engines
(ICE) by 2035, can we transform our
industry that quickly?
Yes, Ford is planning to build electric
vehicles in Oakville [Ont.], but basically
we produce ICE vehicles [in Canada]. The
supply chain is not ready. How fast can
we convert and be competitive? Just to
say there will be no ICE vehicles by 2035
- if the cars [are imported], that's not
going to do much good for our economy.
My recommendation is that if we want
to transition to electrics, we should start
with commercial vehicles and public
vehicles like transit, things where governments have some control. That is a
place where you can lead by example.
That would be a way to develop the infrastructure.

WHAT EV PARTS COULD CANADA MAKE?
Electric motors are probably feasible.
But the electronic components, we're not
well-equipped to do all the inverters and
energy-storage logic that are required.

WHAT ABOUT BATTERIES?
We have some raw materials like lithium. [And] we shouldn't just sell our raw
materials; we should try to force more value-added into the battery manufacturing.
Otherwise, you are just feeding your competition to have an advantage using your
own natural resources.
So it would make sense we would
pursue this, but that is also a very long
process. We do have some expertise.
[Physics Professor] Jeff Dahn at Dalhousie
[University in Halifax] is a guru in lithium batteries. - ANC

Automotive News Canada - February 2021

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