Automakers and Aftermarket Call for Withdrawal of Bill C-273

OTTAWA , Oct. 28 /CNW/ - The National Automotive Trades Association (NATA), Association of International Automobile Manufacturers of Canada (AIAMC) and Canadian Vehicle Manufacturers' Association (CVMA) welcome the endorsement of, and desire by the Automotive Industries Association of Canada (AIA) to become party to, the Canadian Automotive Service Information Standard (CASIS) agreement. All groups call on Bill C-273 to be withdrawn.

The groundbreaking CASIS agreement was formally signed by the AIAMC, CVMA and NATA and endorsed by the Minister of Industry, Tony Clement on September 29th, 2009 . The Agreement provides service and repair information to all local and independent repair shops across Canada in a manner similar to what is offered to the automotive aftermarket in the United States .

"The goal of CASIS is to provide the entire automotive industry access to automobile manufacturers' tools, service information and training information said Dale Finch , Executive Vice-President of NATA. "AIA's endorsement of the CASIS at this time reinforces that this goal can be accomplished without legislation and we look forward to further discussing AIA's participation in CASIS as a full partner."

"After extensive consultation with our members and discussions with the AIAMC, CVMA, and NATA on important issues, the AIA Board of Directors voted unanimously last week to fully support the CASIS Agreement and recommend that legislation at any level of government is no longer necessary," said Marc Brazeau , President of the AIA. "We look forward to becoming a signatory party to the Agreement to ensure that CASIS is a success."

"We are happy that AIA has recognized the merit of the Agreement that was negotiated over the past six months between Canada's aftermarket and automakers to provide independent repair shops the information they need to fix Canadians' vehicles," stated David Adams , President of AIAMC.

Mark Nantais, President of CVMA added, "All parties now recognize what a huge leap forward the CASIS is for Canadian industry and consumers. Our industry has a long and pragmatic history of implementing industry led solutions that have successfully achieved their stated goals without legislation. While there is significant work to be done in implementation, the CASIS will be no different."

For further information: David Adams, President, Association of International Automobile Manufacturers of Canada, [phone], [email protected], www.aiamc.com; Mark Nantais, President, Canadian Vehicle Manufacturers' Association, [phone], [email protected], www.cvma.ca; Dale Finch, Executive Vice President, National Automotive Trades Association, [phone], [email protected], www.natacanada.ca; Marc Brazeau, President, Automotive Industries Association of Canada, 1-800-808-2920, [email protected], www.aiacanada.com