Thank you, Mr. Chair.
I've been listening closely to what people have been saying since the meeting began, just as I listened last week. In my estimation, the current problem is auto sales. Do you have a strategy in place for selling vehicles? Even if billions of dollars are allocated to the Canadian and U.S. industries, if no one is buying a car, dealers won't be moving vehicles off their lots. Have you devised a strategy of some kind to sell these vehicles?
Mention has been made of wage rollbacks. All industrial sectors in Canada, and not just the auto and parts industries, are imposing wage rollbacks on workers, a move that reduces their purchasing power. As a result of this move, banks and credit unions are reluctant to lend money, since consumers are already carrying mortgage and other debt. Banks are issuing even fewer car loans.
What can you do to sell vehicles that the middle class can afford, in spite of wage rollbacks? Therein lies the problem: how do you sell your vehicles? I'm interested in hearing your comments. Why kind of national strategy have you devised to market your vehicles so that the industry and the resale market can recover?