Industry Collaboration on Connected Car Provides Lessons for Canada: McMaster’s Automotive Policy Research Centre
Based on a case study of the APMA’s successful Connected Car project, the APRC finds cross-sector multi-stakeholder collaboration is key to defining Canada’s evolving role in automotive manufacturing.
HAMILTON, CANADA February, 2015 – According to a new report released today by McMaster University’s Automotive Policy Research Centre (APRC), the Canadian automotive industry must expand its capabilities and seek beyond its traditional focus on manufacturing and assembly to remain competitive in the global environment. The APRC study suggests that this requires broad, cross-sector collaboration involving government, industry and academia. The APRC study is based on the Automotive Parts Manufacturers’ Association’s (APMA’s) Connected Car Project.
The new report and case study, The APMA’s Connected Car Project: Innovation through Collaboration in the Canadian Automotive Parts Industry, is now available for download on the APRC website:
This report investigates a successful Canadian collaborative project called the Connected Car project, which created a connected car demonstration vehicle featuring Canadian-made technologies. The purpose was to promote domestic capabilities to original equipment manufacturers.
The brainchild of the Automotive Parts Manufacturers’ Association of Canada, the Connected Car Project engaged Canadian academic and industry partners, including Alcohol Countermeasure Systems Corp.; BAKERS Early Warning Systems Inc.; Intelligent Mechatronic Systems, Inc.; Leggett & Platt Automotive Group; Lixar; Magna; MIS Electronics; Pravala Networks; QNX; Rogers; TE Canada ULC; Weather Telematics; and XYZ Interactive Technologies.
In 2012, Toyota donated funds to the Connected Car Working Group for the purchase of a Canadian-made Lexus RX350. The Lexus became a mini-laboratory for determining how to interface various connectivity technologies into a single connected vehicle. Integration efforts were led by QNX along with the University of Waterloo and Lixar.
“What the APMA has done is quite remarkable,” Toyota Motor Manufacturing Canada General Manager of Corporate Planning, GreigMordue said. “They have expanded the notion of what constitutes an automotive supplier; they have facilitated collaboration among companies that have never connected before, and they have demonstrated in a very tangible way that the automotive industry is at the forefront of advanced manufacturing.”
“If Canada wants to be a leader in the development of the next generation of the auto industry, it has to be innovative -- not just in what it makes and how it makes it, but in how the industry organizesitself to create competitive advantage,” Brendan Sweeney, Project Manager of the APRC said. “For years Canada had a competitive advantage in labour costs relative to the U.S. because of advantageous exchange rates and low employee health care premiums. The Connected Car Project demonstrates that the rules of the game have changed.”
“This research touches on an important issue in Canada’s automotive manufacturing sector today,” Charlotte Yates, Principal Investigator of the APRC said. “The APRC brings together industry, academia and government to help us examine how policy might ensure a competitive and sustainable industry. The Connected Car project is an important case study in determining where Canada sits in the broader automotive manufacturing sector.”
About the Automotive Policy Research Centre
The Automotive Policy Research Centre (APRC) is a policy research partnership that focuses on maintaining a competitive and sustainable Canadian automotive industry in an increasingly challenging global marketplace. It is the first research initiative housed within IMPAKT @ MAC, the only organization dedicated to the field of manufacturing policy in Canada. The APRC brings together social scientists, engineers, and senior representatives from industry and labour. The operating philosophy of the APRC is predicated on the belief that creating a collaborative research partnership that brings together a range of industry and research experts is the best way to help the industry, policy-makers, and other stakeholders understand the linkages between public policy and a competitive automotive industry. Learn more about the APRC at
For media inquiries, please contact
Brendan Sweeney, PhD
Project Manager
Automotive Policy Research Centre (APRC)
905-525-9140 ext. 20993