Stronach's vision

Based on the headlines in the Saturday papers, it appears that Frank Stronach’s vision for Opel / Vauxhall is pretty much what I predicted, although I have to confess that I had a little better tool than a crystal ball.

First, despite his Austrian origins, Stronach is fiercely proud of being Canadian. His bankrolling of the “Next Great Prime Minister” program does telegraph his intent, as does his daughter’s choice of a career in politics. Belinda’s time in Ottawa was, admittedly, controversial, and she has as many naysayers as fans, but clearly she was raised in a household where service in Parliament was considered noble, and that speaks to pride of citizenship as well.

One can also look at many of the former politicians, Liberal and Tory alike, who have served in various capacities at Magna – from the board of directors to positions within the firm.

My own anecdote comes from my association with Sinclair Stevens and the Commonwealth Advantage campaign. One success was to convince Magna to locate a parts manufacturing plant in a particular Commonwealth jurisdiction where the Japanese automakers outsourced a lot of their manufacturing for their domestic market.

What I know is that Magna is a company run by a Canadian nationalist who understands the importance of the Commonwealth as a trading and investment network. This is why I think that the odds of them using the Vauxhall and Opel brands to crack into Canada and other Commonwealth markets is remarkably high.

This would be good news for GM dealers in Canada who now face being mothballed, auto workers who face working for a company that is majority controlled by Washington and an American union and that needs to cut operations, and for British autoworkers who fear the future of the Vauxhall plants at Ellsmere Ports and Luton.

Mind you, I do need a crystal ball for that prediction…