Canada’s leaders have tied its fate very publicly to the electric-vehicle transition. That poses a unique challenge for Kristian Aquilina. 

General Motors Canada’s new president and managing director was promoted to the position one month ago. He runs a division that’s no longer a typical Big Three branch plant that focuses on selling or building vehicles. 

In GM Canada, he’s also running a business that’s building a battery materials plant with a South Korean partner and, as of Thursday, backing a graphite mineral project in Quebec billed as the first of its kind in North America. 

“What’s unique about Canada is the fact that, from raw material through to vehicles that end up in people’s driveways, through the recycling, it all happens here,” said Aquilina. “There’s not many places in the GM world in which you can do that. That’s what drew me here.” 

Aquilina is taking over at a company that, from the outside, looks quite different than it did a few months ago. 

Detroit automakers faced their first trilateral strike by the United Auto Workers last fall. High-flying autonomous-vehicle startup Cruise, which is majority-owned by GM, has pumped the brakes on its expansion, amid broader questions about the safety of driverless cars. CEO Mary Barra has said the company is bringing back plug-in hybrids, a move some saw as a detour in the road to electrification. 

Some changes hit closer to home. BrightDrop—the electric-van brand that is made in Canada’s first full-EV plant, but was previously run by Silicon Valley executives—is being folded into GM. The company also established a domestic wing of its defence manufacturer to work with the Canadian Armed Forces. As Cruise goes back to the drawing board on fully driverless robotaxis, GM’s separate, homegrown driver-assistance technology, Super Cruise, is advancing. 

The upheaval in the auto industry comes amid questions about whether Canada got out over its skis investing in foreign automakers’ EV transition. Aquilina defended GM’s commitment to Canada, saying he expects social and economic benefits to spin off from the investments. 

“Canada has made GM a better company,” he said in a recent interview with The Logic, which touched on a wide range of topics. “Leaning into this market and putting investment and capital into Canada is a response to many years of Canadian talent doing amazing things for GM.”

This conversation has been edited for clarity and length.

On whether the transition to EVs is slowing down:

“We’re kind of at the infant stages still, even though we’ve had EVs on the road for several years. We want to be in a place by 2035 with zero-out tailpipe emissions. And the government wants us to be there. We’re at eight per cent EV penetration last year, in a very short period of time… we’re gonna be at 100 per cent, if everyone gets what they want. So this EV transition is happening. 

Growth isn’t linear and these things don’t happen overnight. There’ll be ups and downs. In the meantime, we need to give our customers options. If there are doubts in their mind about EVs—which there shouldn’t be, because they are great products that we stand by—we will have options for them, whether they be gas-powered vehicles, or indeed, hybrid.

Yeah, we’re all in, and our strategy is still to get there.”

On technology that’s still under wraps:

“I’m most excited about where we’re taking our Super Cruise [advanced driver assistance] technology, developed right here in Canada. We’ve got these very smart people who have backgrounds from all over the world who have decided to come to Canada. Not Silicon Valley, they’re coming to Canada. And working for GM, and taking this driverless technology to the next level. 

Some of the things that these cars will be able to do are absolutely fascinating. We are testing innovations which can blow people’s minds once they reach the market, which is a few years away. We’re making sure that we’re going to offer a product that is absolutely extraordinary but absolutely safe.”

On the future of dealerships:

“We’re a tech company as much as an automotive company. Dealers are very advanced in their thinking around that, too. There are early adopters in our dealer network. 

Change is daunting for everyone. There is change happening in the industry. We need to change as a company as well. Dealers are recognizing that need, and then making well-placed investments at the right time.”