Ontario Highlights Growing Automotive Sector During Investment and Trade Mission to Germany and Poland
Province promotes its end-to-end EV supply chain and world-class workforce
May 29, 2023
The Ontario government has concluded a successful investment and trade mission to Germany and Poland to promote the province’s growing automotive sector and to explore new opportunities for investment and job creation. The mission, led by Vic Fedeli, Minister of Economic Development, Job Creation and Trade, included meetings with German automakers Volkswagen and Mercedes-Benz.
“We continue to strengthen Ontario’s end-to-end EV supply chain by building a competitive business environment that attracts investments from companies around the world,” said Minister Fedeli. “These investments will create more good-paying jobs for workers across our automotive supply chain and drive economic growth.”
Vic Fedeli, Minister of Economic Development, Job Creation and Trade
Ontario representatives met with the senior leadership of Volkswagen Group in Wolfsburg and PowerCo SE in Salzgitter to thank them for the Group’s historic $7 billion investment in St. Thomas, the future location of Volkswagen’s first overseas battery cell manufacturing plant. The meeting included discussions about future opportunities with the company as they build out their footprint in Ontario. The province is also working with Volkswagen to organize a suppliers’ day to help source Ontario suppliers for the new battery cell plant, helping to ensure companies across the province can benefit from Volkswagen’s major investment.
Additional highlights from the mission included meetings with executives from Mercedes-Benz and global automotive parts suppliers ElringKlinger and Eberspaecher Group to promote Ontario as a leading destination for investment. ElringKlinger currently operates a manufacturing facility in Leamington, and Eberspaecher has subsidiaries in Mississauga and Concord.
“Ontario is an industry leader in the automotive and EV sectors,” said Trevor Dauphinee, CEO of Invest Ontario. “Invest Ontario is laser-focused on fostering a dynamic end-to-end supply chain, supported by our impressive assets, including over 700 parts suppliers, and 500 skilled tool, die, and mold makers.”
Trevor Dauphinee, CEO of Invest Ontario
Building on the success of the province’s 2022 investment and trade mission, Ontario representatives also met with government representatives from the German state of Baden-Württemberg. Ontario and Baden-Württemberg share a close economic relationship that was formalized in a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) first signed over 30 years ago. The MOU was renewed last year and fosters collaboration on initiatives across a range of sectors, including automotive and electric vehicles.
“Ontario and Baden-Württemberg are economic powerhouses and global centres for the auto industry,” said Dr. Nicole Hoffmeister-Kraut, Minister of Economic Affairs, Labour and Tourism for Baden-Württemberg. “We are pleased to explore opportunities to strengthen trade and investment ties, particularly in the EV and EV battery sector, during this time of transformation for the auto industry.”
Dr. Nicole Hoffmeister-Kraut, Minister of Economic Affairs, Labour and Tourism for Baden-Württemberg
With its competitive business environment, world-class workforce, state-of-the-art research and development facilities, and abundance of critical minerals, Ontario continues to be a prime location for businesses worldwide to invest and grow.
Quick Facts
- Last year, two-way trade between Ontario and Germany was valued at close to $15 billion. There are approximately 260 German businesses operating in Ontario.
- With a GDP of $750 billion, Baden-Württemberg is the third-largest economy in Germany and is home to many well-known multinational enterprises, such as SAP, Daimler, and Porsche. More than 100 companies from Baden-Württemberg have invested in Ontario.
- Over the past two-and-a-half years, Ontario has attracted over $25 billion in transformative automotive investments by global automakers and suppliers of electric vehicle batteries and battery materials.
- The Volkswagen Group’s cell plant in St. Thomas will create up to 3,000 direct jobs. Once complete in 2027, the plant will be the largest manufacturing plant in Canada and produce batteries for up to one million electric vehicles a year.
- More details on how companies will be able to participate in the suppliers’ day will be shared by Volkswagen and the Ministry of Economic Development, Job Creation and Trade in the coming months.
- Ontario’s auto supply chain is comprised of over 700 parts firms, over 500 tool, die and mold makers, and over 300 connected and autonomous companies.
Additional Resources
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