More than 500 Canadian companies expressed interest in working on the project and the APMA narrowed it down to just 58 — 35 per cent of which are from the Windsor-Essex-Chatham region in southwestern Ontario. And that’s why APMA President Flavio Volpe chose to offer a fleeting glimpse of the vehicle here, in “the heartbeat of the auto sector” in Canada.
Officials trucked the vehicle down Highway 401, some 422 kilometres from Ontario Tech University in Oshawa, where the build is taking place.
Even as the vehicle sat on the floor among exhibitors in Windsor, engineers and technicians continued to work on doors and interior back in Oshawa.
“The bees are still working back at the hive,” insisted John Komar, executive director of the Automotive Centre of Excellence at Ontario Tech University, where it will eventually undergo wind tunnel and seasonal testing.
“We can put it through four seasons in one day,” Komar said.
While not much was revealed in Windsor, the midsize crossover arrived without doors, a hatchback and hood. It was on a cart, not wheels, and had no roof or interior.
But, rest assured, “the interior goes in like Lego,” said Colin Singh Dhillon, chief technical officer for the APMA.