AIA Canada supports research and development that drives innovation and competitiveness in the Canadian automotive sector

 The Automotive Industries Association (AIA) of Canada commends The Honourable Gary Goodyear, Minister of State (Science and Technology) for his announcement this morning that six new projects will be funded with support from the Automotive Partnership Canada initiative and the automotive industry. These projects will allow the automotive sector to significantly enhance the efficiency of vehicles on Canadian roads.

Global economic challenges are turning the automotive industry in new directions and the Automotive Partnership Canada initiative’s funding provides companies, both in manufacturing and in the aftermarket, greater opportunity to stay at the forefront of innovation. Newly funded projects such as the Long-Lived, High-Energy-Density and Low-Cost Lithium-Ion Batteries for Automotive, Grid Energy and Medical plan would enable batteries to last longer and would benefit not only the automotive industry, but Canadian drivers as a whole. “Results from the 2011 Canadian Automotive Aftermarket Demand Study, prepared by DesRosiers Automotive Consultants for AIA Canada showed that 5.6 out of 100 vehicles that come into shops require battery replacement,” states AIA president Marc Brazeau. “Not only is this a safety hazard, but it is also costly for vehicle owners. New technology could enable vehicles to stay on the road longer and perform at higher levels of efficiency.”

From 2005 to 2010, vehicles on Canadian roads aged six to 12 years in age increased by two million units, reaching 9.2 million registrations. Share of the total fleet rose from 38.3 per cent to 41.8 per cent, almost half of the vehicles registered in Canada. The size of the aftermarket fleet is constantly growing and for this reason, AIA Canada fully supports initiatives that enable partnership between the automotive aftermarket industry and government and looks forward to new projects that will help our industry keep vehicles safe and improve their environmental performance.

Automotive Partnership Canada (APC) is a five-year, $145-million initiative that supports collaborative research and development (R&D) and pushes the Canadian automotive industry to greater levels of innovation. The APC program’s mandate is to encourage R&D. As this is an industry-driven initiative, automotive companies provide both financial support and essential in-kind contributions to ensure the research projects’ success.