AutoCanada posted a $4.1-million net loss in the first quarter due in large part to rising operating costs in the United States, where it launched a plan to reduce expenses and optimize its portfolio.

Canadian sales in April fell for the 14th straight month as FCA, GM, Ford, Nissan and Honda all saw their deliveries dip. Toyota and Hyundai sales rose while Volkswagen's numbers were essentially flat. 

Toyota Motor Manufacturing Canada on Monday plans to make what it calls “a significant production announcement” at its North Plant in Ontario, where the RAV4 is assembled.

Ford is recalling about 327,000 pickups in North America equipped with engine block heaters because cable splice connectors might have inadvertently been damaged during a service procedure for a previous recall and now pose a fire risk.

Ford, Hyundai and Kia were among the winners, while General Motors, FCA and Toyota fell.

Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, citing falling demand for minivans, is dropping one of three production shifts at its assembly plant in Windsor, Ontario, in September, a move that will eliminate about 1,500 jobs.

The temporary shutdowns will allow the company “to align production with demand.” FCA Canada has idled its minivan plant in Windsor, Ontario, three times this year. 

The short shifts come after the company already temporarily idled the plant three times in 2019. Running at full volume, the plant produces nearly 1,500 minivans per day.

The Liberal Government of Canada has pledged C$300 million ($225 million U.S.) over three years to grant rebates of up to C$5,000 for electric or hydrogen fuel cell vehicles. It will also bolster some green infrastructure in an effort to drive ZEV sales.

Automakers sold a total of 123,342 new vehicles in Canada during February. David Adams, president of Global Automakers of Canada, said the 2 percent drop in sales wasn't unexpected given the impact of bad weather across the country last month.

The Ontario's labor relations board ruled that Canada's Unifor union must not conduct any "unlawful strikes" in its protest of GM's decision to end production at its Oshawa assembly operations after 2019.

GM Canada, through its lawyers, is demanding Unifor stop broadcasting and streaming an ad the company calls “knowingly false and misleading” or face legal action.

New-vehicle sales in Canada fell 5.4 percent in January to 111,225 units sold when compared with the same month last year, according to the Automotive News Data Center in Detroit, lending early credence to bearish 2019 forecasts.

Unifor is planning to run a Super Bowl ad in Canada its ongoing campaign to convince GM to keep its Oshawa assembly plant open. The ads won't air in the U.S.

Unifor President Jerry Dias is asking Canadians and Americans to boycott Mexico-made General Motors vehicles in protest of the automaker’s decision to close its Oshawa assembly plant.