The automotive industry has cautious optimism after meeting with Carney

The head of an organization representing the automakers said he was “prudently optimistic” after meeting Prime Minister Mark Carney to exhort him to repeal the obligation to sell electric vehicles.

Brian Kingston, CEO of the Canadian Vehicle Manufacturers Association, joined the CEO From Ford Canada, Stellantis Canada and GM Canada at a meeting with Prime Minister on Wednesday in Ottawa.

In addition to discussing the impact of American customs duties – the main subject of the meeting -, the car manufacturers told Mr. Carney that the industry could in no case achieve the objectives set by the obligation to sell electric vehicles.

The industry has long argued that this obligation is useless, Canada already having other policies to achieve its programs reduction goals.

Why add an obligation to sell electric vehicles to your current regulations [sur les gaz à effet de serre]? It is totally insane. What has changed since its design and entry into force is the collapse of sales of electric vehicles.

The obligation policy stipulates that as soon as next year, 20 % of all new light vehicles sold in Canada will have to be zero emission, and this objective will increase each year to reach 100 % by 2035.

The most recent data in Statistics Canada indicates that sales of electric vehicles in the country have dropped to 7.53 % of all new vehicle sales in April.

End of federal incentives

Even with the help of the popular incentive program for zero emission vehicles (IVZE), which offered a reduction of $ 5,000 on the price of a new electric vehicle, sales of electric vehicles culminated at 18.29 % in December 2024. The IVZE discount program was suspended in January, after the financing of funding.

Sales dropped 11.95 % in January at the end of the discount program, then 6.8 % in February and 6.53 % in March, before going up slightly in April.

If we want to achieve the compulsory target of 20 % of sales of electric vehicles by 2026, sales of zero emission vehicles should be increased by 180,000 unitssaid Brian Kingston.

It is simply impossible that this will happen in such a short time, given all the market forces at stake.

Although the government has indicated its intention to restore a form of consumption discount for electric vehicles, Kingston said that such a specific promise of implementation may harm more electric vehicle sales.

In May, after a meeting with the management of General Motorsthe Minister of Industry, Mélanie Joly, told journalists that the government was planning to restore support programs For electric vehicles. Last month, the Minister of the Environment, Julie Dabrusin, told the Canadian press that Ottawa was working to restore a specific discount program.

Return of the incentive program?

The Liberal Party electoral platform promised to examine the means of Reintroduce an incentive to purchase up to $ 5,000.

Public comments from ministers suggesting the return of an incentive program for electric vehicles are extremely prejudicialwarned Mr. Kingston.

It’s a huge problem. If the government wants to restore it, it must be clear about its plan and its schedule. And you have to act quickly, because if it is announced that it will be in three months, no one will buy an electric vehicle for the next three months.

Transport Canada leads consultations on the discount program. THE CEO From Hyundai Canada, Steve Flamand, who claimed the return of the discount, will meet representatives of the ministry to discuss it next week.

For us, the program worked rather wellFlemand told the Canadian press.

He added that the sudden end of the IVZE program had disrupted the supply chains of his business.

Obviously, it must be predictable and stable, because our activity does not change in a few days. She pivots in six months sliceshe said.

Mr. Flemish said that his business was not opposed to the obligation to buy electric vehicles, as long as it aligns for market demand.

We believe in the cause, but for the moment, I think 20 % […] It is simply not realistic. No one will do it. Having an unrealistic obligation without the natural demand of the market is the recipe for disaster.

Brian Kingston considered that the restoration of the discount program – claimed by the CEO de Hyundai, Steve Flamand, in a column published Thursday in the Globe and Mail – would not be enough to comply with the obligation relating to electric vehicles.

To give you an idea of ​​the cost of an incentive of $ 5,000 and an increase in sales of 180,000 additional vehicles to reach the target of 2026, this would represent nearly a billion dollars in spending, he pointed out. It is not a viable policy.

The government spent nearly $ 3 billion in the five years of life in its electric vehicle discount program.