Rob Bostelaar

The industry's pandemic-hastened embrace of e-commerce has shown that remote selling is possible – and for many dealers, profitable.

One analyst thinks QNX software will remain a top choice for automakers in need of a strong, secure platform for car operations — and one they maintain control over — even as they let Google move into infotainment with a consumer-friendly platform that might not be especially secure.

Numerous automakers have had to idle plants because of a lack of semiconductors for today’s tech-heavy vehicles, but metals and chemicals have also become sought-after commodities as manufacturers broaden their hunt for materials.

Amazon Web Services and BlackBerry created Ivy, a vehicle data platform that will generate predictive insights for automakers and third-party developers.

The Waterloo, Ont.-based tech giant said its QNX Hypervisor technology underpins the digital instrument cluster and more in the high-end electric sport-utility from China's Beijing Automotive Group Co.

Opened in 2019 as the L5 Connected and Autonomous Vehicle Test Facility, the 4,200-acre site in the capital's Greenbelt has been renamed Area X.0.

With an extensive background in government, 36-year-old Brian Kingston will live in Ottawa instead of Toronto to make politicians‘fully aware’ of the importance of the auto sector.

Honda said it will reimburse out-of-pocket expenses for customers, some of whom have had to make repeated visits to dealer service departments to replace inflators that can explode with too much force and injure occupants of the vehicle.

Among the general population, the elderly are the most susceptible to the novel coronavirus. In the business world, it’s the young, small start-ups, often with limited access to credit and government financial help, that are most at risk of going under. Some have shifted gears to make medical parts just to stay afloat.

The Ottawa-based Canadian Advanced Technology Alliance says some startup tech companies that focus on autonomous and electric vehicles, fuel cells and batteries might not qualify for current relief because they haven't shown profit, yet.

The decision follows the postponement of the March 25-29 Vancouver International Auto Show and comes as sports events and other large gatherings across North America are being cancelled in an attempt to slow the spread of the virus.

The robotic arm display, in which camera-controlled mechanical arms dip and whirl alongside human employees working on partially finished Civics, is bound to attract attention at the Canadian International AutoShow. The automaker wants to understand the benefits of machine-human partnerships in manufacturing.

Supported by $8 million in federal funding, the network will install 160 level 3 "fast chargers" at 73 locations across the province. The stations will be less than 100 kilometres apart on average, providing reassurance to EV owners who now must rely on a patchwork of charging stations largely concentrated in urban areas.

The electric I-Pace becomes the first vehicle in the 36-year history of the Automobile Journalists of Canada awards program to win back-to-back Utility-of-the-Year Awards. The 2020 Mazda3 is the latest generation of Mazda's compact stalwart.