(AFP) – General Motors said Tuesday it was ending production of an electric vehicle at a plant in Canada, a further blow to the country’s auto sector tied to President Donald Trump’s opposition to EVs. Canada’s auto industry has been battered by Trump’s global tariffs on foreign-made vehicles, but GM’s decision to stop production of an EV van in Ingersoll — about 160 kilometers (99 miles) west of Toronto — was not directly linked to the trade war.
GM made a specialized zero-emission delivery van at the Ingersoll plant, used by companies like FedEx for urban deliveries, but the company said demand for the vehicles “developed much slower than expected.” “The elimination of tax credits in the United States (for EVs) has made the business even more challenging,” GM said. Trump has slashed support for EVs, ending a tax credit of up to $7,500 for vehicle purchases. That has forced a pivot by automakers like GM, which had aggressively invested in EV capacity throughout the presidency of Trump’s predecessor, Joe Biden.
Canadian autoworker union Unifor said GM’s announcement will impact more than 1,000 jobs. “After billions of dollars in public support to build an EV future, Canada cannot allow companies to simply walk away the moment there is pressure from Washington or turbulence in the market,” said Unifor national president Lana Payne.
Canada has hoped to become a major player in the auto industry’s shift to EVs, given its substantial deposits of the critical minerals essential for EV batteries. The country has pitched itself as an ideal location for end-to-end EV production, where the minerals could be extracted, processed, and then brought to plants for battery-making.
But that bet appears to have been badly timed. Experts from Western University said last month that eight EV manufacturing plants in Ontario had received a combined Canadian $43.6 billion ($31 billion) in government subsidies. Five have already been forced to suspend or delay their activities amid a softening in EV demand.
© 2024 AFP
