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The days of Ontario bragging about being the largest auto-making jurisdiction in Canada and the United States are coming to an end.
Michigan has roared into first place in vehicle manufacturing among states and provinces this year, knocking Ontario off the perch it has enjoyed since 2004.
The Great Lakes State is forecast to hang on to the lead when year-end statistics are tabulated. Michigan and some other U.S. states have been the biggest beneficiaries of the robust recovery in the U.S. market that has the Detroit Three auto makers rushing to boost production as quickly as they can.
The U.S. state’s leapfrog over Ontario is the latest troubling sign for the province’s most important manufacturing industry, which has fallen behind in the highly competitive global contest for automotive investment.
“This is just another message to all the stakeholders – government, business, labour, communities – that confirming the next round of investments in our plants is a historic priority,” said Jim Stanford, economist with Unifor, the union that represents assembly line workers at the Canadian units of the Detroit Three.
Auto makers have assembled about 1.6 million vehicles in Michigan this year, compared with about 1.5 million in Ontario. Forecast data published by consulting firm WardsAuto/AutomotiveCompass show Michigan on pace to build 2.45 million vehicles by the end of the year, a 9-per-cent increase from 2012 levels and ahead of the forecast for 2.34 million built in Ontario.
Both Ontario and Michigan are up against Mexico, which surpassed them during the 2000s and is gaining billions of dollars in new investment by Europe and Asia-based auto makers that will lead to increased output later this decade.
There have been some positive developments at the Ontario plants, including the recent announcement of a $700-million investment by Ford Motor Co. at its Oakville, Ont., plant and production increases by Toyota Motor Manufacturing Canada Inc. in Cambridge and Woodstock factories.
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