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Buy a North American vehicle, save our automakers
Commentary by Mac Olsen
South Peace News
I have come to resent the foreign automakers’ presence in North America, especially the Japanese automakers, as they are on the verge of taking over the domestic market from General Motors, Ford and Chrysler.
Don’t get me wrong, competition is a good thing, which allows consumers more choices and forces the domestic automakers to improve the quality of their products and services. However, with so many foreign branch plants like Toyota and Honda in Ontario and the U.S., they are gradually and inevitably grounding the domestic automakers under heel.
They provide jobs to Canadians, sure, but their profits go back to their corporations in their originating countries. Moreover, foreign markets like Japan have put up barriers to ensure our domestic products do not gain a foothold in their countries, or at the very least, they are so difficult to overcome as to make it worthless trying to enter their markets.
So, in retaliation, all of the foreign branch plant-made cars in Canada should be subject to high tariffs as well if the other countries exploiting our market will not commit to quid pro quo.
Fortunately, High Prairie still has three domestic dealerships – Big Lakes Dodge, Charrois Motor Products and Monahan Ford. It was a relief to hear Charrois Motor Products has survived GM Canada’s dealership reduction announcement. As owner Don Charrois says, the 19 people employed at his dealership, as well as their families, would have been devastated were it closed down. High Prairie’s local economy would have taken a hit, too.
Whitecap Motors in Slave Lake also survived GM Canada’s axe, so that says something about the region. There’s also S.L. Ford Sales in Slave Lake and Falher has the Falher Ford dealership.
Not that the domestic automakers do not bear some of the blame for the situation they’re in now. Take General Motors, which has been going through a series of crises worldwide, including an oversupply of certain vehicles like trucks and SUVs, as well as higher labour costs compared to some of its foreign competitors.
The company has sought and received financial assistance from the U.S. and Canadian governments, as well as concessions from its unions, the Canadian Auto Workers and United Auto Workers, as part of its restructuring plan. Unfortunately, as this column was going to press, the company was looking bankruptcy protection in the face.
Chrysler has already declared bankruptcy, although it has completed an agreement to merge with Italy-based Fiat. However, any Fiat-derived small cars Chrysler Canada obtains for the domestic market had better be built in Canada, to keep CAW members employed.
Ford is in financial trouble, too, but it has faired better than its domestic rivals by implementing aggressive cost-cutting strategies and switching more quickly to products like crossovers.
As for my allegiance, I am a Ford loyalist and get all my service work done at Monahan Ford Kawasaki in High Prairie.
In essence, people in this region should do all their business with the domestic dealerships, instead of going to Edmonton, Grande Prairie, Peace River or elsewhere to buy their vehicles, or buy at foreign dealerships.
After all, the domestic automakers are part of your communities. Do you want to contribute to their demise and the foreign automakers’ total dominance of our market?
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