Why it remains a seller's market when it comes to dealership mergers and acquisitions

Larry Dominique has been guiding Peugeot's planned return to the United States and Canada for four years. It's unclear what his new appointment means for that effort.

Canadian auto supplier Martinrea International Inc. capped a difficult year in which it faced automotive plant closures with its net profit falling 12 per cent to nearly $45 million in the final quarter of 2020.

Winnipeg-based Rapid RTC — which manages live chat functions and sales lead management for 4,200 dealers and 27 automakers in North America and Europe — has been sold to U.K.-based software developer Keyloop.

The companies say the partnership will give customers an opportunity for a unique design experience.

The move is part of an effort to become carbon neutral that same year, with the company planning to plow US$2 billion into the global effort.

Canada’s automotive future doesn’t exist in luring new vehicle assembly plants but in the supply chain’s ability to adapt to a self-driving and electric technologies, says Ray Tanguay, the former Toyota executive and federal and provincial auto adviser.

The six finalists qualified from among the eight category winners AJAC announced on Feb. 20.

AutoForecast Solutions estimated an impact of 33,141 units at Oakville over the course of the year. That would represent about 23 per cent of Oakville Assembly’s total output in 2020 and about 13 per cent of 2019 production, according to the Automotive News Research and Data Center.

GM did not disclose the impact on volumes or say which supplier or parts were affected by the chip shortage, but said it intends to recover as much of the lost output as possible.

Volvo Canada Managing Director Matt Girgis said that to achieve Volvo’s ambitious goal of an all-electric fleet of vehicles in 2030 government will have to step up in terms of infrastructure and consumer incentives.