Nouvelles récentes de l'ACCV

"Driving the Future." Remarks by Michael Grimaldi, President, General Motors of Canada. Toronto Economic Club, Thursday, February 12, 2004.

Toronto, ON – 2004-02-12

Good morning everyone and thank you for that warm welcome. I want to compliment you Mark and the Toronto Economic Club on the success you have had in building this speaking forum.

I'm especially pleased to be with you on the eve of the Canadian International Auto Show - a much-anticipated annual event that connects with our passionate love of vehicle design and performance.

I do hope you plan to come down to the Toronto Convention Center and check out the many new automotive designs and technologies on display from across our industry.

This is certainly a great time for automotive customers – especially those contemplating a new vehicle that offers outstanding value. At GM Canada, we are introducing a parade of 30 new or significantly changed models in 2004.

Today, GM is a company on the move.

A strong sign that "GM is driving in the fast lane" is the rebirth at Cadillac and we are following that with a re-energized product portfolio for our other brands.

One of the more frustrating things in our industry is that not every customer buys or leases a new vehicle quite as often as they would purchase, say, a new suit or pair of shoes. Product and brand perceptions take time to catch up with reality. At GM we believe we are earning our way into the hearts and minds of Canadians every day, with new designs and high quality and reliability – especially those built right here in Canada.

I think we can all be proud, for example, that GM Canada's Oshawa car plant has now been recognized for the past two years as the #1 quality plant out of all automotive plants in North and South America. In our business, that's the Stanley Cup of manufacturing. And in the important mid-sized car segment populated by import brands, Consumer Reports has named the Oshawa-built Buick Regal as the most reliable car.

Today with the opening of the Auto show, I want to speak with you about another key focus – one I believe Canadians care a great deal about – and that is the challenge of balancing our love of mobility, freedom and function with the need to reduce emissions and conserve fuel.

When you come at this very challenging issue in the transportation sector – I think its is helpful to recognize that, for the automobile industry at least, there are two distinct challenges:

1.		How to reduce or eliminate harmful emissions – especially smog causing emissions;
2.		how to improve fuel economy and thereby reduce greenhouse gases - while still meeting customer requirements for utility and function.

Reducing Harmful Emissions

On the first challenge – how to reduce harmful emissions - you might be surprised to hear about the scope of the advances we have made already. In fact, with the implementation of new Tier 2 emission standards, which apply to all of our vehicles, we will have reduced smog-causing emissions by 99%. But what does that really mean? In practical terms, today:

1.		Burning a cord of wood in your fireplace this winter will create more smog causing emissions than 10 of our new Chevy sport utilities over their entire practical lifetime – in fact you'd have to drive one of our new Trailblazers around the earth's circumference more than 37 times to match the output of that nice warm winter fire.
2.		Or consider that painting a room with one can of interior water-based paint generates more smog causing emissions than driving one of our GMC sport utilities to Vancouver and back again.
2.		And that same new vehicle will emit less in a year than operating a snowmobile for 1 hour.

So, again, perceptions occasionally can be out of sync with reality. We are now after the small remaining margins. This remains a critically important issue, but it is one on which the auto industry has made great strides.

Reducing Greenhouse Gases

Let me turn then to the second major challenge – and that is how to reduce our use of fossil fuels in the automotive arena and thereby curb the production of greenhouse gases.

Let me start with a rather bold statement. And that is that GM plans to literally remove the automobile from the environmental debate.

Let's run a short clip to illustrate what I mean. (run Hywire commercial)

We brought the HyWire to Ottawa last year and some of you may have had the chance to test drive this unique concept vehicle. If you did, you'll know what I mean when I say that, at GM, we believe that hydrogen fuel cells are the future – so much so that we are investing over a quarter of our worldwide R&D budget into the development of the hydrogen economy. We also intend to be the first automaker to profitably sell one million fuel cell vehicles – beginning by the end of this decade.

I will have more to say about hydrogen in a moment but first, you may rightly ask – well, fine, hydrogen is good, a car that only emits water is great - but if that's almost ten years away, what is GM doing to make a difference today?

Governments are also asking that question so it's a good topic for this morning.

We are all aware that Canada has taken a leadership role on climate change and our federal government continues to work on its climate change implementation plan. I have discussed this topic with Prime Minister Martin and I know he recognizes that to make a real difference we need realistic implementation plans. Targets are fine but after that – as a wise person once said - "hope is not a strategy".

We can and we will make strides in improving fuel economy. But first we need to recognize that the auto industry and new technologies are just one part of a Rubics cube that also includes the fuels industry, our $32 billion Canadian auto parts industry, auto dealers, governments, universities and of course the ultimate decision maker – the purchaser of the product – you.

Move one piece in the puzzle and all the others are impacted as well.

Your choices as a driver will certainly be one of the most important factors influencing vehicle fuel consumption in Canada. Not just in terms of your driving habits but also in your purchasing decisions.

The research is clear that Canadians want superior new vehicle technology that saves fuel and improves performance – but they want their neighbours to buy it first.

It is a complex puzzle but at GM we see our role as being a leader and a problem solver.

In that spirit, we are implementing a broad Environmental Agenda at GM Canada that can make a difference right now – and that's what I want to outline for you this morning. How we plan to do our part – how we'll try to accelerate improvements in Canada - and how we would challenges others to do the same.

Let me say, right off the top, that at GM we are not going to waver from our focus on designing, building and selling great cars and trucks that satisfy all the needs of our customers. Nor will our competition. And we are not interested in producing products that people do not want to buy or pay for.

What we will do is demonstrate leadership with a short, medium and longer-term program to address the fuel economy issue in a meaningful way.

So how are we going to make a difference?

1) Hybrid Electric Vehicles

Well, if you have been reading the auto pages lately you might have the impression that hybrid gasoline/electric vehicles are the silver bullet we've all been waiting for – I wish that were true.

Hybrids are a very good first step - if we can encourage people to adopt the technology

I'll be the first to acknowledge that competitors like Honda and Toyota were first to market with small hybrid engine vehicles designed for congested stop & start city driving – and they deserve all due credit for that.

But last year, only 740 hybrid vehicles were sold in Canada – and that made up only half of point one percent (0.05%) of the 1.6 million vehicles sold here in 2003.

GM Canada is coming at the introduction of hybrids from the other end of the spectrum – by applying them first on larger vehicles so we can have a bigger impact and save more fuel.

And when I say big, let me start with our GM hybrid electric bus, which we are bringing to the Canadian municipal market right now. Our experience is demonstrating that the GM Allison powertrain can improve fuel economy by 50% and reduce emissions of particulate, carbon monoxide and volatile organic compounds up to 90% as well as emissions of NOx by up to 60% compared to a conventional diesel bus.

We believe the new federal government can really kick start this process by linking its "Cities agenda" with the Climate Change Fund to help Canadian municipalities renew their aging fleets with more fuel efficient buses – as Seattle did last year by purchasing 235.

Consider this statistic - in Canada it would take fewer than 150 hybrid buses or about 1% of all the urban transit buses operating in the country today to exceed the fuel saved by all the hybrid cars that have been sold here to date.

This weekend we will have a GM hybrid bus standing in as the auto show shuttle.

But hybrid buses are just a start. At GM, we are also introducing a portfolio of new fuel saving vehicles -- including our 2004 GM hybrid electric pickup trucks. I'm pleased to report that government and commercial fleets across Canada have already stepped forward to become purchasers. Due to the higher costs, governments can decide to accelerate change by considering tax breaks for purchasers of these new technology vehicles.

At GM we plan to keep the hybrids coming. Over the next several years, we will introduce a Saturn SUV hybrid, as well as hybrids for our next generation Chevrolet Suburban or Tahoe and our GMC Yukon full size utility vehicles.

So hybrids are a good first step – but they are not the only step.

2) Fuel Saving Technologies and Light Weight Materials

Point two in our environmental agenda, is to improve what we have on the road already with new fuel-saving powertrain technologies and light-weight materials that can help deliver greater fuel economy.

Here's a quick quiz - yesterday, what company's vehicles won the most Energuide Awards for fuel efficiency?

I suspect you will have guessed the answer – and if the fact that it was GM surprised you I hope that is another reason for you to come and visit us at the Toronto auto show. We are proud to have won top fuel efficiency honours again this year for our small crossover Pontiac Vibe, the fullsize Chevrolet Impala sedan, and our line-up of minivans - the Chevy Venture, Oldsmobile Silhouette and the Pontiac Montana.

To keep our place at the front of the class we are working closely with key GM suppliers in Quebec to develop and produce light-weight aluminum components that reduce vehicle weight – and improve fuel economy.

But in addition, new power train technologies are needed to move forward without sacrificing utility. One of my personal challenges for 2004 is to achieve a GM Canada mandate to manufacture Displacement on Demand (or DoD) powertrains right here in Ontario.

DoD is a GM engine technology that can significantly improve fuel economy by temporarily deactivating 4 of 8 engine cylinders when they are not needed at cruising speed on the highway. Technology is thus helping us to build-in-fuel efficiency without sacrificing utility or power when you need it.

3) Alternate Fuels

So I have mentioned hybrids and new technologies - but cutting greenhouse gas is also about the fuel itself.

That's why the third point on our green score card is to be Canada's automotive leader in support of alternate fuels.

You may be aware that Canada's climate change implementation plan promotes the development of renewable ethanol for Canadian transportation fuels.
Grain-based ethanol and specifically cellulosic ethanol could substantially reduce net greenhouse gas emissions from transportation – and Canadian companies such as IOGEN are leaders in the development of these environmentally friendly fuels.

GM supports the development and use of renewable fuels. In fact our entire fleet has been designed to operate on E10 – a mix of gasoline and 10% ethanol – since the early 1980s. Now, with the introduction of our 2004 model year products, 85% ethanol- compatible power trains are available options on all GM pickup trucks and full size utility vehicles.

So if Canadians are willing to fill up with ethanol, and Canadian fuel companies will provide them with that option at the pumps - GM will be there – with more ethanol compatible vehicles than any other automotive company.

4) R&D – Toward the Hydrogen Economy

The fourth point on our environmental score card is to truly engage our partners – including Canadian universities, our supply chain and special partners like Toronto based Hydrogenics and Vancouver based General Hydrogen - to help develop longer term solutions including Canada's road to the hydrogen economy.

I have underlined GM's commitment to hydrogen fuel cells and our belief that this technology will ultimately replace the internal combustion engine.

GM Canada is committed to ensuring that Canada has a seat at the hydrogen table as we engineer this revolution in transportation technology. To date, we are the only manufacturer in Canada to make a major commitment to vehicle design and engineering right here in Canada – and we challenge our competitors to do the same.

Currently, we are sponsoring some 61 research projects at 24 universities across the country, including 5 university research chairs. This year we intend to expand those activities with additional research activity in the areas of vehicle hydrogen storage technology and the advancement of fuel cell materials – and I plan to make further announcements in this area later this year.

5) Transparency, Reporting and Clean Facilities

The final point on our environmental agenda for 2004 relates to the performance of our Canadian facilities. GM Canada has voluntarily reduced its CO2 emissions by 35% since 1990 and we will continue that trend line in setting the benchmark for our industry. In November, we were recognized by the Voluntary Challenge Registry as a Gold Level Reporter - the fifth consecutive year we obtained this top reporting status.

At GM we also believe strongly in transparency and the positive impact this has on ensuring we maintain excellent environmental performance. I won't recite all the details of our Corporate Sustainability Report, but will stress that GM will continue to seek out new improvements, take a leadership role and report openly on our performance.

Summary and Conclusion

So there you have our five-point plan for 2004: large hybrid vehicles, new fuel vehicles saving technologies, alternate fuel vehicles, research and development, hydrogen fuel cells and reduced emissions from our facilities.

Reducing greenhouse gases will be one of the great challenges of our time. This challenge will require an aggressive but realistic and comprehensive plan involving many partners.

And each of us as consumers will have personal choices to make in support of this objective.

At GM we are working hard to get to the day when our products emit nothing more than droplets of water - but in the short and medium term, we will do our part to ensure we make a difference right now.

We look forward to working together with you – and I hope we can start by seeing you at the Toronto auto show.

Thank you for your attention this morning

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