Challenges Confronting the Canadian Automotive Parts Industry: What Role for Public Policy?

This article reports on a recent survey of Canadian automotive component manufacturing plant managers that focused on issues related to innovation and the influence of public policy on plant-level competitive strategies and performance. Three questions are addressed: (a) Do public policies inhibit or contribute to plant success, (b) does the experience of Canadian-owned plants differ from that of foreign-owned plants, and (c) does the experience of small- and medium-sized plants differ from that of large plants? The analysis is first situated within the context of the industry and recent Canadian automotive and manufacturing policy and concludes with the implications of our findings for public policy development.