"This will be the most attractive rebate, certainly in North America," McGuinty said at a press conference quoted by just-auto.com. "It may be the most attractive rebate ... in the world."
To be honest, it may very well be the most attractive rebate system of them all. After all, the Canadians have in mind to give customers no less than $10,000 (US $8,950) when buying a new car, but with only one, very important condition: the purchased car must be electric. Needless to say, giant American manufacturers GM and Chrysler were thrilled when hearing the news.
"With this bold initiative, the premier is taking a significant step in positioning Ontario as a leading jurisdiction in the adoption of clean electric vehicles like the revolutionary Chevrolet Volt extended range electric vehicle" Neil Macdonald, GM Canada vice president told the source.
Honda on the other hand begs to differ, as it looks at the Canadian version of the American Car Allowance Rebate System (CARS) from the standpoint of the manufacturer who has no electric vehicle to offer.
"We don't want government deciding winners and losers,"Jerry Chenkin, Honda Canada vice-president said. "This announcement of a $10,000 rebate is creating winners and losers on products that aren't available yet and [on which] nobody knows the real time line."
Toyota stands by its rival Japanese manufacturer and, even if details of the Canadian rebate system are still not known, renounces its Prius and whatever chances it may have at the rebate.
"Ultimately, technologies have to succeed on the basis of consumers using their own dollars to vote in favour of the technology," Stephen Beatty, Toyota Canada managing director stated. "I'm not sure they've thought through who that customer is and how those technologies can best be applied."
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