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Got your attention, eh? Well, it's true:
Source. Whether Manitoba can pull this off is hard to say. On the one hand, wages are higher here than in Alabama, which might not be appealing to Tata. On the other hand, some other labour associated costs (like health insurance) are much lower, as are energy costs.
If Alabama can build automobiles, why not Manitoba?
That's the attitude of NDP backbench MLA Bidhu Jha, who is leading a push to persuade Indian automotive giant Tata Motors to build a North American version of its cute Nano car -- or any other model -- in Winnipeg.
The mechanical engineer, who has owned his own business and worked as an international trade and business development consultant, may have an in with the company. He once worked as an engineer for Tata in Jamshedpur, India, before emigrating to Canada 35 years ago.
Jha, the province's special envoy for international trade, said that before 1997, when Mercedes-Benz began producing cars in Alabama, there was not a single automobile manufacturing job in that state.
Now, according to the Alabama Development Office in Montgomery, Ala., there are 35,000 people employed in the sector. Hyundai, Honda and Toyota have joined Mercedes in setting up shop there, as have a host of auto manufacturing suppliers.
That's the attitude of NDP backbench MLA Bidhu Jha, who is leading a push to persuade Indian automotive giant Tata Motors to build a North American version of its cute Nano car -- or any other model -- in Winnipeg.
The mechanical engineer, who has owned his own business and worked as an international trade and business development consultant, may have an in with the company. He once worked as an engineer for Tata in Jamshedpur, India, before emigrating to Canada 35 years ago.
Jha, the province's special envoy for international trade, said that before 1997, when Mercedes-Benz began producing cars in Alabama, there was not a single automobile manufacturing job in that state.
Now, according to the Alabama Development Office in Montgomery, Ala., there are 35,000 people employed in the sector. Hyundai, Honda and Toyota have joined Mercedes in setting up shop there, as have a host of auto manufacturing suppliers.