Challenges Confronting the Canadian Automotive Parts Industry: What Role for Public Policy?

Abstract

Dans cet article, nous analysons un sondage que nous avons mené, auprès de dirigeants d'usines canadiennes de pièces d'automobiles, qui portait sur des questions liées à l'innovation et à l'influence des politiques gouvernementales sur les stratégies et la performance des usines sur le plan de la concurrence. Nous examinons trois questions : a) Les politiques contribuent-elles au succès des usines, ou le freinent-elles ? ; b) La situation des usines appartenant à des intérêts canadiens diffère-t-elle de celle des usines appartenant à des intérêts étrangers ? ; et c) La situation des usines de petite et de moyenne taille est-elle différente de celle des grandes usines ? Nous menons d'abord notre analyse dans le contexte de l'ensemble du secteur automobile et des récentes politiques canadiennes manufacturières et de l'automobile, puis nous concluons en montrant les implications de nos observations sur la mise en place de futures politiques. Mots clés : industrie des pièces automobiles, politique manufacturière canadienne, politique automobile This article reports on a recent survey of Canadian automotive component manufacturing plant managers that focused on issues related to innovation and the influence of public policy on plant-level competitive strategies and performance. Three questions are addressed: (a) Do public policies inhibit or contribute to plant success, (b) does the experience of Canadian-owned plants differ from that of foreign-owned plants, and (c) does the experience of small-and medium-sized plants differ from that of large plants? The analysis is first situated within the context of the industry and recent Canadian automotive and manufacturing policy and concludes with the implications of our findings for public policy development.

Manufacturing change and policy response in the contemporary economic landscape: how cities in Ontario, Canada, understand and plan for manufacturing

“…Together, these reshape the status of the manufacturing sector and help inform understandings of the responses of local governments to the challenges their communities face. In many regards, the issues of manufacturing and local economy are heavily steeped in contemporary politicaleconomics, where the forces of the global capitalist system and globalization have reshaped the economic landscapes of Western societies through the reorganization of industrial sectors (Holmes, Rutherford, & Carey, 2017;Rutherford & Holmes, 2008), spatial fixes and the geographical reorganization of manufacturing (Hall, 2015;Harvey, 2001;Malecki, 2004), increased challenges from emerging markets (Wolfson & Frisken, 2000), and the reorientation of local and regional economies (Bradford & Wolfe, 2013;Vinodrai, 2015;Wolfe & Gertler, 2001).…”

“…The most frequent usage occurring in cities located Southwestern Ontario (e.g., St. Thomas, Windsor and Woodstock) and the GTA (e.g., Oshawa, which has had a precarious relationship with General Motors). A potential explanation is that these cities have traditionally been the epicentres for automotive production in the province and have been disproportionally affected by the sector's decline (Holmes et al, 2017), but have continued to prioritize it as an economic development approach. This regional perspective in Southwestern Ontario may also have been spurred on by the robust regional competition in 2008 for a Toyota plant (that ultimately located in Woodstock), which is contrasted against a continual erosion of the sector spurred on by plant closures in St. Thomas (Ford) and Windsor (Chrysler).…”

The role of university‐industry research centers in embedding foreign subsidiaries: Insights from automotive research and development in Ontario

“…In response, the Canadian government shifted its focus and began to attract R&D through programs such as the Automotive Innovation Fund and the Automotive Supplier Innovation Fund . These initiatives provide financial incentives for MNEs to research greener and more fuel‐efficient vehicles (Holmes et al, ; Rutherford & Holmes, ).…”

“…The triple helix approach is increasingly used in policy circles, including in Canada, as a paradigm for innovation policies (Gornitzka, Maassen, & Boer, ; Hellström, ; Ranga & Etzkowitz, ). It was the approach policymakers used to highlight Ontario's value as a location for automotive R&D (Holmes, Rutherford, & Carey, ). And it was part of a broader shift in economic policy thinking to view the university as a commercial actor (Hellström, ; Metcalfe & Fenwick, ; Rasmussen, ).…”

“…In a similar vein, automakers have also taken advantage of government support for research and development through generous tax credits (Holmes et al, ).…”