Latest news with #KristianAquilina
CTV News
04-07-2025
- Automotive
- CTV News
‘Remain agile': General Motors president touches on U.S. trade negotiations, emissions mandate while in Calgary
Auto industry executives gathered in Calgary Thursday to discuss challenges and opportunities faced by the sector which has been hit hard by U.S. tariffs. The president of General Motors Canada is in Calgary on the heels of meeting with Prime Minister Mark Carney this week amid the trade war with the United States. Kristian Aquilina is in the city for the company's partnership with the Calgary Stampede. He spoke on a panel Thursday about the future of mobility in Canada – one that remains uncertain amid the ongoing tariff discussions with the U.S. 'Uncertainty also brings opportunity,' said Aquilina ahead of the panel to CTV. 'We have to remain agile to whatever eventuates here.' Automakers, July 3, 2025 GM sales are up double digits in Calgary, GM President Kristian Aquiliana said Thursday. (CTV News) Aquilina joined other leaders in the auto industry Wednesday in Ottawa to meet with Carney, with a focus on protecting Canadian supply chains. It comes in response to U.S. President Donald Trump imposing 25 per cent tariffs on vehicles manufactured in Canada but includes a carve out for components built in the states. Aquilina wouldn't share details of the discussions with the prime minister but shared an attitude of optimism. Kristian Aquilina, GM president Kristian Aquilina, the president of General Motors, was in Calgary Thursday to discuss challenges faced by the auto industry. (CTV Calgary) 'We shared the views of our industry, and he has that in order to negotiate in the best way for all of Canada so we wish him well,' he said. 'We'll see how that pans out but at this stage we're focused on delivering for what we know today.' Zero-emission rebate Among the views shared with Carney is executives efforts to have Ottawa ditch its zero-emission vehicle rebate. By next year, 20 percent of new passenger vehicles sold in Canada must be either battery powered or hybrid. Aquilina said getting rid of the mandate wouldn't change GM's commitment to developing electric vehicles. 'An EV mandate that's currently in effect that determines or tries to pick the technology that consumers ought to have in their driveways isn't necessarily the right way to go about it,' he said. 'We're investing heavily in electrification -- we have 13 EVs available for customers and we would prefer our technology path here is driven by the customer rather than a made-up mandate.' Ottawa hasn't revealed its plans for the mandate or the trade discussions which picked back up with Trump after he pulled out over Canada's digital service tax on multinational tech firms – which was called off over the weekend. Automakers Aquilina said GM has 13 different EVs available for customers, but the company wants the federal government to ditch its zero-emission vehicle rebate. (CTV News) Despite the challenges facing the industry, Aquilina said GM has seen unprecedented growth among buyers. 'Here in Calgary we're in double digit category for growth,' he said. He looks forward to policy resolutions, so it no longer overshadows other developments happening in the industry, such as the technology to improve self-driving vehicles. 'We're focused on the innovation and development in our industry. Our industry is in the headlines for all sorts of reasons, but really what has been missed is the opportunities that are available for all of Canada once we identify the big technological shifts that are happening in our industry,' he said. 'What is being overshadowed is that there is a big technology here in this industry.'
Globe and Mail
10-06-2025
- Automotive
- Globe and Mail
Ottawa should scrap restrictive electric-vehicle regulations, GM Canada's CEO says
Canada should scrap the rule that will require one in five vehicles sold in 2026 to be powered by an electric battery, the head of General Motors Canada GM-N says, warning that no traditional automaker is close to that threshold. Twenty per cent of new car sales in 2026 must be battery-powered, an amount that rises to 60 per cent by 2030, according to federal regulations introduced in 2022 intended to limit the effects of climate change caused by carbon emissions. By 2035, all passenger vehicles sold must be EVs. In 2024, 13.8 per cent of new vehicles sold, or roughly one in seven, were EVs, according to Statistics Canada. Kristian Aquilina, president of GM Canada, said next year's targets are unattainable for GM and its competitors. The 60-per-cent mandate will lead to such unintended consequences as restricted sales of internal combustion engine (ICE) cars and booming sales of older gas guzzlers, Mr. Aquilina said. He wants the entire program ended. Opinion: Canada's electric vehicle strategy has failed, and there are lessons to learn Opinion: The real threat to Canada auto isn't Trump. It's our own government forcing EVs on us Speaking at an event hosted by The Globe and Mail in Toronto, he pointed to a diminishing patchwork of incentives and subsidies for EVs and the lack of investment in charging stations. The federal government and provinces including Ontario and Quebec have paused, dropped or reduced subsidies and incentives to buy zero-emissions vehicles. 'When these mandates came into play, there was an understanding that there would be some investment in infrastructure as well as consumer incentives to help with the affordability,' Mr. Aquilina said. 'Some of those haven't [happened] or have stopped.' EV sales in March fell 45 per cent compared with a year earlier, even as overall sales rose by 9 per cent, Statscan said. EVs accounted for 6.5 per cent of sales. 'It's unrealistic to believe that the country is going to go from 5 or 6 per cent to 20 per cent by model year ′26, which starts now,' Mr. Aquilina said in an interview. 'So that will force us to have to restrict the ability to sell ICE vehicles and there's dealership jobs all around the country reliant on those, there's manufacturing jobs relying on those.' Mr. Aquilina said the slumping government support for EVs is depressing their sales at a time when consumers are still adjusting to the new technologies. Industry Minister Mélanie Joly said in May that the federal government will bring back the EV incentive program, which gave car buyers $5,000 rebates for zero-emissions vehicles and $2,500 for hybrid gas-electric vehicles. Joanna Kanga, a spokeswoman for Ms. Joly, did not address questions about any plans to alter or drop the EV mandates. 'The federal government is working hard to make sure that Canada's auto sector is able to compete over the long term by building EV supply chains here at home,' she said in an e-mail. 'Collaboration with the sector will remain essential to drive the innovation necessary to achieve our goals.' Global electric-car sales rose by 25 per cent to more than 17 million in 2024, according to the International Energy Agency, but growth is slowing in the United States, a key market for automakers. The shift has prompted industry players to rethink some of the large investments they have made in supply chains, assembly lines and battery plants. Honda Canada last month said it has postponed its $15-billion EV and battery project in Ontario. Stellantis NV delayed production of the electric Dodge Charger R/T in Windsor, Ont. Meanwhile, Ford Motor Co. scrapped plans last year to make EVs in Oakville, Ont. The plant west of Toronto will instead make gas-powered pickup trucks when it reopens, with plans for an electric version later on.
