At first glance, Prime Minister Mark Carney’s new auto industry strategy looks like billions of dollars in support for Ontario’s beleaguered vehicle manufacturers. Unfortunately, Carney’s EV-focused approach will do little or nothing to solve the industry’s problems.
It’s difficult to imagine a plan more untethered from the economic realities of the real-world auto industry. To summarize, the Carney plan relies on electric vehicles (EVs) that Ontario plants don’t produce, a sudden and dramatic new appetite for buying EVs and an imagined export market that doesn’t exist. To top it off, the federal government will provide $2.3 billion in EV rebates that will encourage Canadians to buy cars made elsewhere, although the new Chinese imports are excluded.
