Don would never have done this.

[cnr67]

Not 7 months has passed Since Mr Wheaton passed. I was surprised and disappointed to hear the company has decided to sell foreign cars and trucks.
A great legacy he left behind only to have his name sullied to a brand he would never carry in life. He sold Chevy/GM products since 61 and not once did he put a Japanese nameplate in his window. He must be rolling in his grave. I will never buy from Wheaton again and encourage others who value keeping Canadians working to purchase thier GM's from a genuine GM dealer.

[edmonton daily photo]

....

Um younrealize that Toyota and honda are expanding their plants here while gm routinely closes them..

[edmonton daily photo]

http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2012/06...n_1562417.html



General Motors is going ahead with plans to close its consolidated plant in Oshawa, Ont., in what its union calls a "disgusting" move it says will eliminate 2,000 jobs directly and many thousands more indirectly.

"Obviously it's devastating news," Chris Buckley, president of Canadian Auto Workers Local 222 said in an interview after the union received confirmation notice Friday of the pending closure.

"Over 2,000 GM workers are finding out today that they with lose their job as of June 2013.

"And, when you look at the spinoff employment created as a result of auto assembly, there will be more like 18,000 jobs that will be lost as a result of General Motors' terrible decision today."

[AShetsen]

A branch plant is a branch plant. Considering American branch plants acceptable but not the Japanese ones is way too close for comfort to the yellow-peril stuff.

[edmonton daily photo]

Toyota to expand Lexus production in Canada

http://www.wheels.ca/news/toyota-to-...ion-in-canada/

Toyota to Expand Woodstock, Ontario Plant

http://www.prnewswire.com/news-relea...-55223362.html

[edmonton daily photo]

http://investincanada.gc.ca/eng/publications/honda.aspx

Honda's Innovative Green Engine Plant Powered by Canadian Talent


The recent expansion of Honda of Canada Manufacturing's (HCM) facilities in Ontario brings state of the art green technology to Canadian manufacturing. The new engine plant in Alliston, 80 kilometres north of Toronto, manufactures engines from 100 percent recycled aluminum, much of it sourced from nearby communities. The new, 28,000 square-metre engine plant sits alongside two existing assembly facilities and reflects not only the growing economic partnership between Honda and Canada, but the advancement of their shared environmental priorities.

[edmonton daily photo]

Originally Posted by cnr67

Not 7 months has passed Since Mr Wheaton passed. I was surprised and disappointed to hear the company has decided to sell foreign cars and trucks.
A great legacy he left behind only to have his name sullied to a brand he would never carry in life. He sold Chevy/GM products since 61 and not once did he put a Japanese nameplate in his window. He must be rolling in his grave. I will never buy from Wheaton again and encourage others who value keeping Canadians working to purchase thier GM's from a genuine GM dealer.

Lastly dont proclaim to know what don would or would not do....meh isn't alive nor is he operating in today's buisness climate. Don was not a dumb buisness man.

[overoceans]

Just out of curiousity, did Don Wheaton have a policy of not selling Japanese cars(as cnr implies), or was it just that he only sold GM cars(thus ruling out Japanese brands, along with everything else that isn't GM)?

Other than that, I agree that the OP is rather ill-considered. To say the least.

[KenL2]

Originally Posted by overoceans

Just out of curiousity, did Don Wheaton have a policy of not selling Japanese cars(as cnr implies), or was it just that he only sold GM cars(thus ruling out Japanese brands, along with everything else that isn't GM)?

Other than that, I agree that the OP is rather ill-considered. To say the least.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't Don Wheaton sell exotic foreign cars in years past?

Lamborghini comes to mind

[halocore]

I really wouldn't get bent up about badges or brands. GM has been shifting a good chunk of its partial and final assembly lines to Mexico for the past 20 years, and Ford's are built in virtually every continent. So chances are most Honda's on the road in this country are actually more "Canadian" than the "North American" brands are. When you factor in the globalization of suppliers and ownership, it becomes very hard to label a brand as "Canadian" or "American".

Better to shop by an individual car's VIN number and not by its chrome marketing bits if you want to support Canadian auto workers.

As for the Wheaton group's inclusion of "foreign" brands, it is still a business after all. It's not like they're dumping GM, they're just expanding to capture more customers. The Wheaton family has been quite philanthropically generous to Edmonton over the years, and I think that's on what any judgements should be based upon.

[Gord Lacey]

Originally Posted by KenL2

Correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't Don Wheaton sell exotic foreign cars in years past?

Lamborghini comes to mind

You are definitely not wrong. I've seen Lamborghinis in the windows while walking by.

[MXV]

Originally Posted by cnr67

Not 7 months has passed Since Mr Wheaton passed. I was surprised and disappointed to hear the company has decided to sell foreign cars and trucks.
A great legacy he left behind only to have his name sullied to a brand he would never carry in life. He sold Chevy/GM products since 61 and not once did he put a Japanese nameplate in his window. He must be rolling in his grave. I will never buy from Wheaton again and encourage others who value keeping Canadians working to purchase thier GM's from a genuine GM dealer.

Wow...how phobic are you?

Firstly, are you aware of how many past GM products were actually re-badged Japanese cars, many actually produced there, or in joint-plants in North America?

Secondly, the new GM seems quite happy to close Canadian plants, in the hopes of moving production to the US or more likely Mexico, all the while many "imported" cars are now being produced in Ontario.

Thirdly, given GM's treatment of past customers and pending warranty issues (and some lawsuits) after the collapse and re-birth of the new GM; "Hey, we're a brand new company...if you had issues with the old GM, tough ****!", how anybody would go back I can't explain.

[Komrade]

dem gcaut damn foreign factories! ruining canada! GM or death!

[Cal76]

All cars are foreign to Canada- if you consider the location of the co. head offices.
Plenty of Japanese brands are made and/or assembled in Canada, mostly in Southern Ontario.
If the product is good and the price is right- does it matter where the company is headquartered?

This is the globalized world- love it or (at least) learn to live with it!

[Slaughtermaster]

Originally Posted by Cal76

All cars are foreign to Canada- if you consider the location of the co. head offices.
Plenty of Japanese brands are made and/or assembled in Canada, mostly in Southern Ontario.
If the product is good and the price is right- does it matter where the company is headquartered?

This is the globalized world- love it or (at least) learn to live with it!

I was thinking the same thing - unless we've been taken over by Americans and we don't know it (yet).

[Legacy]

Chevrolet Aveo's are simply rebadged Daewoos. Last I checked, they're Korean.

[etownboarder]

Originally Posted by Legacy

Chevrolet Aveo's are simply rebadged Daewoos. Last I checked, they're Korean.

And some of the crappiest cars made.

[KLOC]

An Edmonton company, Optessa Inc., provides the optimization software used for all operations at HCM. They also support nearly all of the US plants, UK and Turkey. The staff's involvement with Honda and other OEM's goes back to the early 2000's. An Edmonton story nobody knows about.