is it time for a canadian automaker?

[riceeater]

i think so... have a cool truck and a family car with optional hatch and there you go, enough to get things rolling... or, start making high performance cars... i can see high performance stuff coming out of the west, and also i can see it quite attractive to build plants in places like saskatchewan, manitoba and the maritimes; this doesnt even factor in the natural resources needed to make those cars, the engineers, etc etc... what do you think?

[Tik-Tok]

Return of Bricklin FTW!!!



Honestly I don't think they could compete, the Big 3 are getting smaller every year, someone would have to come out with something out-fucking-standing for a bottom end price to even be in the market.

[Xtrema]

We don't have a protectionist government to start up something like this.

No Canadians patriotic enough to buy strictly Canadian which is how the Asian brands started.

[rc2002]

Lots of cars are manufactured in Canada. I'm sure lots of design takes place here too, it's just the head offices that are in other countries.

[energieboi]

wayne gretzky : ford Built in canada (something like that)

wayne gretzky = biggest sell out!

[l8braker]

I doubt they would ever be profitable (with multiple model lines).

It would be sick if there were a few investers that started up a Saleen-esqe company and built an S7 type car on Canadian soil that beared the Canadian flag. Limited run, white, classy looking (like us Canucks) with some power.

[01RedDX]

.

[riceeater]

the government doesnt have to be fully involved, after all we are capitalist... just be there to create the proper environment and stimuli to make it attractive to entrepreneurs to pursue this. it doesnt have to be a huge scale project, but if it targets our tastes, i think it could do ok... pretty much every european country has their own cars they make; hell, if 3/4 of their line up is rental and company cars, vans and trucks, that'd be great, go canada go.

[Xtrema]

BTW, we already build for a lot of different name plates. The poll is for having a Canadian name plate car on the road (I think). Like a Bombardier car.

Originally posted by riceeater
i can see high performance stuff coming out of the west, and also i can see it quite attractive to build plants in places like saskatchewan, manitoba and the maritimes;

Logistics will prevent major car plants to be open in the mid/mid west region of the continent.

Low production, mid/high cost exotic models in the west in the scale/likeliness of Ariel Atom would be cool.

[riceeater]

look at the UK... ford has their own division, honda does the same, mitsubishi... the ST, the typeR, the evo FQ....basically everyone's cars are done up and upgraded by local engineers...

or small companies like ariel and noble, that are just a bunch of engineers and some welders making kit cars... there are soooo many ways to go, if they would just be creative

[Xtrema]

Originally posted by riceeater
the government doesnt have to be fully involved, after all we are capitalist... just be there to create the proper environment and stimuli to make it attractive to entrepreneurs to pursue this. it doesnt have to be a huge scale project, but if it targets our tastes, i think it could do ok... pretty much every european country has their own cars they make; hell, if 3/4 of their line up is rental and company cars, vans and trucks, that'd be great, go canada go.

The only reason Bombardier is still around is because of the government.

[riceeater]

Originally posted by Xtrema
BTW, we already build for a lot of different name plates. The poll is for having a Canadian name plate car on the road (I think). Like a Bombardier car.

exactly...

Originally posted by Xtrema

Logistics will prevent major car plants to be open in the mid/mid west region of the continent.

Low production, mid/high cost exotic models in the west in the scale/likeliness of Ariel Atom would be cool.

ok, so make something more high tech, more high priced, that requires more skilled higher paid labor... that'd be ideal i think

[riceeater]

Originally posted by Xtrema


The only reason Bombardier is still around is because of the government.

yeah, but maybe they overstretched themselves into sectors where everything is very very expensive, the contracts are few, and competition fierce... in a way they do need the money, but in lots of ways they have pissed it away i think (though i cant say i know that much about them)

[riceeater]

Originally posted by Tik-Tok


Honestly I don't think they could compete, the Big 3 are getting smaller every year, someone would have to come out with something out-fucking-standing for a bottom end price to even be in the market.

well, lets have a good enough management idea, and implement it in a way that we dont let unions destroy us from within

[benyl]

The big 3 would never allow it. Packard comes to mind.

There isn't a big enough market for Niche cars in Canada. I am pretty sure the Canadian market is smaller than the California market.

[riceeater]

why wouldnt hte big 3 allow it, and why should we care? what are they gonna do, remove themselves from the canadian market? close what few plants they have left?

if we came up with a good enough product, we wouldnt be restricted to only a canadian market, we could export to almost anywhere, since our safety and emisions standards are already pretty high

[l8braker]

Originally posted by benyl
The big 3 would never allow it. Packard comes to mind.

There isn't a big enough market for Niche cars in Canada. I am pretty sure the Canadian market is smaller than the California market.

bingo.

[benyl]

Originally posted by riceeater
why wouldnt hte big 3 allow it, and why should we care? what are they gonna do, remove themselves from the canadian market? close what few plants they have left?

if we came up with a good enough product, we wouldnt be restricted to only a canadian market, we could export to almost anywhere, since our safety and emisions standards are already pretty high

You have to look at the big picture.

Are you going to manufacture every single nut, bolt and screw? Are you going to cast every part that is necessary? Or are you going to buy from a parts bin from a part manufacturer?

Most likely the later. The big 3 have huge influence on part makers. You will not get a good price on a part to put in your car. What you will end up with is a Kia for the price of a Caddilac in order to be profitable. Even worse, if you make everything else, you will end up with a Kia for the price of a Benz.

Most manufacturers out source everything these days. Perfect example is interiors. A lot of companies use Johnson Controls to design and build their interiors. Johnson Controls will not likely talk to a new Canadian Manufacturer because of the political power the Big 3 and Asian manufacturers hold over them.

That is just the way it is. The auto industry is an oligopoly that seems to be consolidating...

[Redlyne_mr2]

Mass produced mainstream vehicles would be an impossible task. There is always room in the market for a specialized vehicle manufacturer though. Keep working on those cf skills man, would love to see a Canadian made, CF shell, sports car.

[tapout]

Originally posted by Xtrema


The only reason Bombardier is still around is because of the government.