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Ontario, Canada - A Global Hub for Green-Tech Auto Research, Production of Fuel-Efficient Vehicles


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Ontario is North America’s number one auto industry jurisdiction


TRAVERSE CITY, MI - August 2, 2011: Representing North America’s top jurisdiction for vehicle production with 17 percent of all vehicles built in North America, the Ontario Automotive Communities Alliance is heading to Michigan to promote increased trade and investment in Canada’s largest province. Traverse City is the site the Centre For Automotive Research’s 46th annual CAR Management Seminar titled “Prosperity Amid Uncertainty,” which will feature addresses by CEOs of leading auto companies.

According to the Conference Board of Canada, the Canadian auto assembly industry can expect to post profits of almost $1 billion in 2011, an increase from $114 million in 2010. Industry revenues shot up by 29 percent last year, and will rise another eight percent in 2011. For parts manufacturers, the Conference Board said a jump in demand and significant cost restructuring led the industry to a $255-million profit last year – the first profitable year for the industry since 2007. Despite the current turmoil in the industry, strong gains in production in the second half of the year will lead to a profit of about $455 million in 2011.

“We’re here to make auto executives understand that what makes Ontario the number one place to build cars in North America is our tier one talent and relentless innovation backed by focused funding,” says Bill Elliot, Vice President of Business Development with Canada’s Technology Triangle in Waterloo Region, a member of the Ontario Automotive Communities Alliance.

Ontario is investing heavily in the key auto sector to turn it into a future international hub for green-tech research and production of fuel-efficient autos. Two recent examples of innovation momentum within the Ontario Automotive Communities Alliance are the opening of the first phase of the University of Windsor’s $112 million dollar Centre for Engineering Innovation, and in Oshawa, the new $100 million dollar GM Automotive Centre of Excellence that features the world’s largest wind tunnel for automotive testing. Both centres serve to expand the resources Ontario-based companies can tap into for research and to produce more trained workers. Currently 43 percent of Ontario autoworkers have post secondary training and the province has more engineers per capita than any other G7 nation.

In July, Ontario’s focus on skills development attracted a $545 million dollar commitment from Toyota to upgrade and expand its two Ontario plants. The Ontario government is providing a $70.8 million grant and the federal government, a repayable loan for the same amount, to Toyota Motor Manufacturing Canada Inc. for plant upgrades in Cambridge and Woodstock. Toyota now employs 6,500 in Canada.

1,000 delegates are expected at the three-day CAR Seminar, which will cover topics such as the latest in high tech connected cars, how to boost manufacturing quality, and how to sell into the South American market.

The Ontario Automotive Communities Alliance represents 60 communities from Oshawa to Windsor though several regional economic development agencies including Chatham-Kent Economic Development, Canada’s Technology Triangle, London Economic Development, Greater Toronto Marketing Alliance, Southwestern Ontario Marketing Alliance, and the Windsor-Essex Economic Development Corp., as well as Canada’s Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade, and the Ontario Ministry of Economic Development and Trade.

About the Ontario Automotive Communities Alliance
The Ontario Automotive Communities Alliance builds international trade and investment opportunities for its 60 member towns and cities in a 420-kilometre corridor from Oshawa to Windsor. This region produces some two million vehicles plus parts for the Ontario industry as well as automakers in the U.S., making it the number one automotive jurisdiction in North America. For more information see www.ontarioautoalliance.com.