Auto sector forms innovation partnership council

A new council for the automotive industry is being formed that will lay out an innovation strategy for the next 10 years and prepare a submission for the national inno- vation summit slated for Toronto in November. The decision to form the Canadian Automotive Partnership Council was made late last month at the Canadian Forum on Automotive Innovation and Investment. The Canadian automotive industry is almost 100% foreign-owned and is one of the least R&D-intensive industrial sectors, spending about $213 million or 0.2% of revenues in 2001. The Council will be composed of CEOs from the automotive, assemblers, parts and aftermarket sectors, as well as the head of the Canadian Auto Workers union, auto dealer representatives, the academic community and federal and provincial ministers. It will meet three times annually with the first meeting scheduled for August....