Trade tensions with the United States have led to a push for Transport Canada to review its vehicle safety standards.
This could allow automakers to import more models certified for sale in Europe, Japan, and South Korea.
Volkswagen currently sells less than half of its global lineup in Canada, but could bring more models if regulations change.
In response to trade issues between Canada and the United States, many, including the Canadian Automobile Dealers Association, are calling for Ottawa to broaden its safety standards, making more global vehicles eligible for sale in the country.
For decades, Canadian Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (CMVSS), the rules that dictate how strong a vehicle’s structure has to be and which safety features must be included for it to be legal for sale in Canada, have closely followed the equivalent standards set by the United States.
While this has made it easy to import new and used vehicles to and from the two countries for both automakers and private buyers, it has also prevented many models sold in other global markets from being sold here.
Now that Canada is trying to distance itself from the United States in many ways, there is a push for Transport Canada to modify its safety standards in order to open up our market to more models that are certified for sale in Europe, Japan, and South Korea.
Volkswagen ID.3 | Photo: VolkswagenIn addition to increasing the market’s variety, it could allow automakers to better fulfil specific Canadian niches that are not popular enough in the United States to warrant the work needed to certify a new vehicle.
For example, smaller vehicles and hatchbacks are more popular in Canada than in the U.S. relative to the size of the market. Since these vehicles tend to be more affordable than the industry average, spending millions to have a car made for Europe or Asia be certified for North America doesn’t make much financial sense. This is one of the reasons why sub-compact vehicles and non-SUV hatchbacks have all disappeared from Canada over the last 10 years.
Making it possible for automakers to bring existing models from Europe and Asia without major modifications or certification could lead to an influx of practical and affordable models that are currently lacking in Canada.
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One automaker that is in favour of this is Volkswagen, as the brand’s Canadian president said the company could offer a more diverse lineup in the country if the federal government allows them to.
As of now, Volkswagen sells 10 models in Canada (7 without counting different versions of the same car) and 24 in its native Germany (18 unique models).
While we don’t expect all of these models to make their way across the Atlantic, even if regulations are broadened, some, like the ID.3 electric hatchback, the T-Cross subcompact SUV, and the regular versions of the current Golf, could prove popular here.
Changing vehicle safety standards is not as simple as it sounds, however, as the move would require legislation before it can be adopted, and there are fears that this would increase tensions with the United States, as American automakers would be disadvantaged by a more open Canadian market that gives more options to buyers.
Source: Automotive News Canada
