HAMBURG -- Vauxhalls built in England for sale in Canada?
Saabs built in China for sale in Canada?
Opels built in Canada for sale in Germany?
Chevrolets built in Spain for sale everywhere?
Whether those scenarios actually happen remains to be seen (it will depend upon the business case at the time), but recent decisions taken by General Motors will absolutely make them possible over the next 10 years.
The process of getting to this state, which would allow the world's largest car company to build more brands in more of its factories around the world, has already begun. "Inter-buildability" is the name of this process and it has become the modus operandi of GM's global design, engineering and assembly operations.
Depending upon the economic situations in various places at a future time, this process could have significant effects on the Canadians who work for GM or buy cars from the company.
The key to inter-buildability is what Hans Demant, vice-president of engineering for GM of Europe and managing director of the firm's Opel division, describes as the "loss of democracy" for designers and engineers in GM operations everywhere.
Essentially, this means the company will control the design and engineering of all its products and local assembly plants and their support staffs will have zero leeway to change them. This will allow GM to design a variety of products that share the same basic structure that can be built in any plant around the world.
This gives the company the ability to change model mix on an assembly line to meet demand or move assembly from a country with a high manufacturing cost to one that's less expensive or to keep products flowing in the event of a strike.
GM conceived this about four years back, when it started promoting the idea of architectures that would be the basis for multiple models serving different markets around the world.
Its Epsilon architecture is probably the most famous, since it's the basis for the Chevrolet Malibu and Malibu Maxx, the Saab 9-3, the Opel/Vauxhall Vectra and Signum, the three versions (sedan, coupe and convertible) of the upcoming Pontiac G6, and possibly more models.
But currently it isn't possible to build a 9-3 on the line in Detroit that builds the Malibu Maxx and so on. It seems that GM engineers in various plants had been what Demant called "creative" in the way they executed the company's orders and had crafted unique assembly facilities that made cross-assembly impossible.
This is where the "loss of democracy" comes in, since the company will take more direct control of such issues and the local folks will follow instructions more. This may be so well received in plants in Oshawa, Ont., and elsewhere, but Demant makes it clear this is the new reality.
For Canadian consumers, the implications of inter-buildability seem mostly positive. Most importantly, it's likely to result in the availability of more models designed to appeal to Europeans.
Having driven many of the Opel and Vauxhall products that we don't get in Canada, particularly Astra, Vectra and Signum, I can tell you that's a good thing.
Kia Sportage SUV
Kia is going to bring its entry-level sport-ute back to Canada this fall, in a larger and more sophisticated package.
The Korean-built Sportage is likely going to carry sticker prices in the mid-$20,000s range, to well below the larger Sorento SUV that starts at $29,845 for an LX model and goes up to $36,745 for an EX-Luxury.
New products are important to Kia Canada right now, since the firm's combined car and truck sales volumes for 2004 are down 20.4 per cent from 2003, even with the much improved warranty it now offers.
Kia promises the unibody Sportage (which shares a lot with the Hyundai Tucson) will be "more modern," which means it will come with such equipment as fully-automatic four-wheel-drive, front, side and curtain airbags, and optional stability control.
The five-seat SUV will also be "longer, wider and higher than the average small SUV," Kia says, and will come in front- and four-wheel-drive configurations, with either a five-speed manual or four-speed automatic transmission (with full auto or manual selection) and two trim levels.
The rear seat cushion and backrest has what Kia calls a "Fold & Dive" system to create a "spacious, square-sided, completely flat cargo area." Sportage's front passenger seat backrest folds flat to accommodate extra-long loads and, at the rear, the top-hinged tailgate features a flip-up window for added loading versatility.
New Jag model?
Jaguar is apparently warming to the idea of building a really big-ticket version of its aluminum XJ8 sedan to challenge BMW's 760Li model and the Mercedes-Benz S600.
This is apparently a popular idea, since Cadillac and Lexus are also thinking of getting into the segment.
Public reaction to the Concept Eight model from the New York Auto Show was quite strong, insiders say, and that has the Ford-owned British manufacturer thinking of a model that would sell for about $140,000 or more in Canada.
If such a model is built, the annual volumes would be very small, so only a handful would ever make it to Canada.
