This Year, Ontario May Pass Michigan in Making Vehicles (NYT)

[Bozita]

It's the health care, folks.

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/11/27/business/worldbusiness/27ontario.html?oref=login

November 27, 2004

This Year, Ontario May Pass Michigan in Making Vehicles

By DANNY HAKIM

DETROIT, Nov. 26 - Michigan has been the heart of the auto industry since Henry Ford started mass-producing the Model T a century ago, but the Midwestern state is poised to be surpassed by Ontario.

The Canadian province is on course to pass Michigan this year and become the biggest auto-producing state or province in North America, according to Ward's Automotive, which tracks auto production data.

The shift would be a further sign of the decay of Michigan's economy as the domestic auto industry has struggled to maintain its market share. The state is projected to finish the year having made about 2.6 million cars and trucks, down from 3.4 million a decade earlier, according to Ward's. Ontario is expected to make about 2.7 million vehicles, up from 2.1 million in 1994. In all, about 89,000 vehicles will separate the two regions this year, according to current production plans.

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Canada is attractive, in part, because of its nationalized health care system, which negates perhaps the largest competitive burden faced by domestic manufacturers. G.M. spends roughly $1,400 a vehicle produced in the United States on health care, more than it spends on steel.

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