NORTH AMERICAN
AUTOMOTIVE INDUSTRY
By Design
Some of the best design work in Toledo and in St. Louis was done in the form of the labor relations that allowed the projects to go forward. Labor relations were key to the go-ahead on DCX's expansion plans in Canada too. At the Brampton Assembly Plant and the Brampton Satellite Stamping Plant, Chrysler Group will upgrade skills training to accommodate a third shift, and Chrysler is also investing more in the Windsor/DaimlerChrysler Canada Automotive Research and Development Centre. But the biggest share of the company's US$640-million investment will be the $508-million expansion over the next three years at the company's Windsor assembly plant, including the construction of a 185,000-sq.-ft. (17,187-sq.-m.) paint shop that will be the most flexible in the Chrysler Group's system. Emblematic of the re-use theme, 90 percent of the steel for the new paint shop will come from the company's former Pillette Assembly Plant. The Government of Canada is chipping in the equivalent of nearly $40 million, while Ontario has committed the equivalent of just over $66 million through its Ontario Automotive Investment Strategy. "In just one year our auto strategy has attracted $5.3 billion [US$4.6 billion] in new auto investment and secured thousands of high value jobs for years to come," said Ontario Minister of Economic Development and Trade Joe Cordiano. That includes a play to diversify, as the governments have also collaborated to back an R&D investment in Windsor by International Truck & Engine Corp., in concert with the company's manufacturing operation in nearby Chatham. In an interview with Site Selection in fall 2005 just before the Chrysler Group announcement, Cordiano gave credit for Canada's turnaround in part to the formation of Canadian Automotive Partnership Council (CAPC), an industry-led coalition whose 2004 recommendations were at the core of both new incentives and new negotiations with labor. Cordiano's background with the ministry includes past oversight of gaming, and he recognizes the difference between jobs numbers and quality jobs. "Gaming is part of the landscape," he said, "but it can never really replace the spinoff that comes from industrial activity and R&D. You need the potential that comes from an industrial base." |
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