If you believe the business press, the auto industry's going through some tough times. Dig a little deeper, however, and you'll find the story is more nuanced. It goes further than the fact that Japanese and other Asian automakers are taking share from the traditional industry leaders. The truth is, while car makers in the U.S. are challenged, the Canadian auto industry is surprisingly robust.

We rarely hear, for example, that Canada is the world's third largest exporter of automotive products, after Japan and the U.S.--but it is, and this is a pretty impressive stat when you compare the size of our population with the populations of those two economic giants.

In fact, the auto industry is Canada's largest manufacturing sector, cranking out 2.6 million vehicles a year, employing more than 165,000 people and responsible for $110.5 billion in annual shipments of vehicles and parts.


(For a detailed overview of the Canadian auto industry, download Industry Canada's March 2006 presentation Cars on the Brain: The Canadian Automotive Sector.)

There are some very good reasons six of the world's top automakers--GM, Ford, DaimlerChrysler, Toyota, Suzuki and Honda--have chosen to establish plants here. Automakers situated in Canada can take advantage, not just of the fact that we're next door to a huge market of enthusiastic car buyers, but also that our health-care system translates in far lower labour costs than those for comparable operations in the U.S. or other countries. Our education system produces highly skilled employees, and favourable tax incentives for R&D let Canadian car makers invest in breakthrough technologies like newer, lightweight materials and other industry-changing innovations. Automakers in Canada can also take advantage of this country's vast network of car parts manufacturers, who deliver state-of-the-art products and let car makers benefit from just-in-time inventory management that serves as another way to keep manufacturing costs down.

Of course, Canadians are themselves enthusiastic car buyers. There are more than 3,300 dealers representing 26 manufacturers nationwide. According to Industry Canada, authorized dealers sell more than $82 billion new and used vehicles in Canada every year. With such a vital marketplace, it's no surprise that the automotive aftermarket--which includes parts, tires, service and repair shops, and car accessory-makers--is thriving as well.

The Globe gives the auto industry a broad portfolio of platforms with which to promote brands at the national level and dealerships at the local level. We run automotive advertising every day, from cost-effective classifieds to full-page display ads in Thursday's highly anticipated Globe Auto section.


What's more, as a response to auto marketers' increasing appreciation of Internet advertising, we've recently redesigned our website. Our car hub, globeauto.com, includes tools that help users find the car that's right for them together with reviews from reputable journalists that help to assure them that they've made the right choice.

Including The Globe in a media buy can be strategic, tactical or a bit of both. Our magazines reach some of Canada's most affluent and influential consumers and, accordingly, are preferred vehicles for companies launching new models that want to create and build awareness for their brands. At the other end of the spectrum, dealers who want to move inventory quickly find that our newspaper and on-line properties let them cost-effectively connect with Canadians who are actively planning to buy a car purchase, whether for themselves, their spouses, their kids, or their companies' fleets.