Latest news with #BreakingAlerts
Yahoo
15-07-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Canada's Flo to close Quebec EV charger plant, lay off 80 across Canada, U.S.
Electric-vehicle charging company Flo said July 10 that it will lay off 80 staff across Canada and the United States and close one of its three EV charger assembly plants as tariff and EV market obstacles mount. 'This decision reflects several challenging realities. Trade tensions, shifting political dynamics — particularly in the U.S. — and inconsistent policy signals around electric vehicles have made long-term planning extremely complex,' company CEO Louis Tremblay said in a statement. The move was first reported by La Presse. Flo, a Quebec City-based company founded in 2009, expanded to a second plant in Shawinigan in 2021 and added a U.S. production footprint in 2022 as strong government support on both sides of the border accelerated charger demand. Sign up for Automotive News Canada Breaking Alerts and be the first to know when big news breaks in the Canadian auto industry. But slow-to-materialize EV sales and political changes in Washington have since undercut the market. The Trump administration in the United States froze funding for Washington's US $5-billion EV charging program in February, though faces a court battle with several states to resume payments. Government support for charging infrastructure in Canada remains robust, though the build out of charging networks across the country have lagged initial projections. The closure of the Shawinigan plant is the latest in a series of setbacks that have rattled Canada's EV manufacturing ecosystem in the past year. Flo's initial plant in Shawinigan's Grand-Mère sector and its U.S. production hub in Auburn Hills, Mich., will continue to operate. But Tremblay said the layoffs are part of a wider 'strategic pivot' that will focus the company primarily on charging network operations, not manufacturing. Flo operates about 100,000 public chargers across Canada and the United States. Despite the shift in strategy, the company said it 'remains firmly committed' to supplying chargers for the residential market, with production and deliveries of home charging stations unaffected by the layoffs.
Yahoo
22-05-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
LeddarTech lays off 95% of staff amid cash crunch
LeddarTech Holdings Inc. said May 20 that it had laid off 138 staff, representing 95 per cent of its workforce, as the company buys time for ongoing talks with its creditors. The automotive software company said the layoffs, which it presented as temporary, affect all departments at its offices in Quebec City, Montreal and Tel Aviv. 'Such [a] measure will provide the company with additional time to continue to actively evaluate potential alternatives relating to a restructuring of [LeddarTech's] obligations, a sale of the business or certain of its assets, strategic investments and/or any other alternatives,' the company said in a release. Seeking creditor protection under the Companies' Creditors Arrangement Act is among the possibilities being considered, LeddarTech added. Sign up for Automotive News Canada Breaking Alerts and be the first to know when big news breaks in the Canadian auto industry. The Quebec City-based company warned this month that it would likely violate an agreement with existing lenders if it failed to raise fresh capital by May 23. Talks for additional financing are ongoing but have not yet yielded results, the company said May 20. LeddarTech, which was founded in 2007 as a lidar maker, transitioned away from the sensing hardware in 2022 in favour of autonomous vehicle software. Its technology relies on artificial intelligence (AI) and computer-vision algorithms to blend data from an array of sensors, providing autonomous vehicles or advanced driver-assistance systems (ADAS) complete views of their environment. The company has faced dwindling cash reserves for months as it works to secure automakers and Tier 1 customers. A US $10-million licensing agreement struck with chipmaker Texas Instruments in December provided several months of additional runway, but the company had just Cdn $4.1 million in cash as of May 8. LeddarTech reported a $16-million loss for its fiscal second quarter of 2025 on May 14. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
