[LINK] "Made in Mexico: An emerging auto giant powers past Canada"

[rfmcdonald]

The Globe and Mail's Greg Keenan reports from a Mexico that is becoming an increasingly strong competitor to Canada's auto-manufacturing sector.

Magna is riding a tectonic shift that is transforming the global auto industry as Asian and European car companies pump billions of dollars of investment into a country perfectly positioned to supply eager North American car buyers and the future growth market of South America.

The shock waves from that shift are battering Canada, which for decades stood as a strong No. 2 behind the United States when it came to North American vehicle production, but has tumbled to No. 3 behind Mexico. One-fifth of the jobs in vehicle assembly and auto parts have vanished in Canada since 2001.

As the auto industry’s centre of gravity in North America moves inexorably southward, the threat to the remaining jobs in Canada is growing, creating worries for workers and posing a problem for policy makers faced with the potential loss of thousands more jobs.

The erosion of one of the pillars of Canada’s manufacturing sector and the corresponding rise of the industry in Mexico is underlined in a series of statistics, including vehicle production, investment in new assembly plants and the trade balance that now stands at $10-billion in Mexico’s favour.

[. . .]

Canada’s share of vehicle production in North America fell last year to its lowest level since 1987 – 14 per cent. The figure for Mexico was 20 per cent, compared with 3 per cent in 1987.