Rumorpile: Ford To Take Volkswagen Modular Platform Idea

That makes South Korean cars and Chinese cars to maybe sometime in the future have manufacturing plants of cars, batteries, anything related in the automotive supply chain to be built in Canada...replacing a centuries old partnership with detroit's automobile industry.  detroit's automobile industry is kowtowing and bowing to king trump the dicktator and will soon close down its manufacturing industry in Canada.  This is Canada protecting its own automotive industry.  And I personally say:  Phoque general motors!!! Phoque ford motor company!!!   Phoque chrysler corp!!! Phoque tesla!!! Phoque the united states of america!!!  I say bring on the Asian car industry!!!    Now...time to replace our aging american fighter jets with something more Swedish!!!  

https://www.ctvnews.ca/business/autos/article/ottawa-south-korea-in-talks-to-bring-auto-manufacturing-to-canada-sources-2/   The federal government has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Republic of Korea that includes discussions to bring auto manufacturing to Canada, two sources told CTV News. The MOU, which is not binding, calls for closer industrial cooperation on the “future of mobility” –including talks on the auto sector – and was signed by Industry Minister Melanie Joly and her South Korean counterpart, Minister Jung-Kwan Kim, after they met in Ottawa on Tuesday. The talks, which are in early stages, involve the possibility of manufacturing vehicles or auto parts and batteries.   Discussions stemmed from South Korea’s push to win the contract to replace Canada’s aging fleet of submarines. On Monday, both Hyundai and Hanwha officials were part of a Canada-Korea auto forum in Toronto hosted by South Korea’s chief trade envoy. At that time, several Canadian auto executives pitched Hyundai about moving some manufacturing to Canada. Flavio Volpe, the president of the Automotive Parts Manufacturer’s Association (APMA), says he made a pitch to the Korean delegation to make electric vehicles in Ontario.

Personally I think GM is too late to the Hybrid party and rather than spend and write off all the billions of dollars on their EVs that are actually selling well, they should have stayed the course and not followed Stupid Ford and Idiot47. GM has a 'handful of hybrids' coming - but are they the ones you want? I do not see GM actually doing well in this space as they are already too far behind.

On a more positive note, travel related stuff ... A historic milestone was achieved by Cunard Line within the last week.  When she was built, Queen Mary 2 (QM2) was too big to transit the Panama Canal.  The same was true for other supersized passenger ships.  In the interim, new larger locks were engineered and put into service. https://travelweekly.com.au/queen-mary-2s-first-transit-through-panama-canal-on-way-to-australia/ I saw the QM2 enter San Francisco Bay in 2007 because I was living out West.  It came in on a Sunday and I spent the weekend south of the city and near SFO.  I went there in a rented 2007 Monte Carlo costing less than $25 a day and stayed at one of the cheap chain hotels near SFO costing about $50 a night, which was ridiculously cheap even then. The ship went around South America and sailed northward up the Pacific.  As such, it's not a trip they would be making too often with the QM2. QM2 transited the Panama Canal for the first time just days ago.  She is headed to Los Angeles AND San Francisco.  To clarify the article's headline, Australia is just its next leg - this is the full world cruise.  She was last in Los Angeles in 2006 when she saluted her namesake Queen Mary and last in San Francisco in 2007 and seeing the passage under the Golden Gate Bridge was unforgettable.  These were the only visits to these ports.  With the new Panama Canal locks, her visiting the North Pacific Ocean and its major ports is much more likely to be on future world voyages. In the Panama Canal transit, the nail biter was supposedly going under the Bridge of the Americas - the one with the curved top.  I saw this YouTube with passengers cheering and motorists up above honking. I blame my parents for this!  They took us across the Atlantic a time or two too many when we were kids and this fascination began.