Rover Automotive Canada (RAC), the private Canadian subsidiary created in 2012 by US based NYSE listed Rover Automotive International (RAI), is seeking its first ISED assistance for a repayable amount of $6,274,000 through SIF for a 5-year $15,685,000 project starting in September 2017 to develop its first SUV vehicle which would build up a center for SUV design and manufacturing in Springfield, Ontario situated in the Canadian hub of vehicle manufacturers. The project demonstrates SIF benefits (innovation, economic, public) and low risk (financing, technical, commercial) if guaranteed by RAI. SIF assistance is necessary for this project to be done in Canada and to yield SIF benefits. Due to the project profile and need, it is a good candidate …show more content…
The project would have economic benefits through support of market growth in the SUV market (which RAC expects to grow at CAGR of 5.15% from 2020 to 2035), increased investment in Canada from RAI (including financial support and access to IP to grow RAC), increased demand for the local economy and supplier base (as 80% of project cost will be done in Springfield and local suppliers will be sourced for parts and facilities), increased employment (with the potential to create at least 50 highly skilled jobs, including 10 in R&D), increased skill development through collaboration with Canadian universities (with the potential for creating 16 engineering internships and assistance with curriculum design from RAC’s participation on academic boards), and $387,500 in university funding through those collaborations (with Ryerson University, University of Toronto, and Carleton University). The project would also have innovation benefits through the creation of wholly owned project-related IP from R&D in materials and engineering methods (by using IP licensed from RAI at no cost and through collaboration with universities), and it would have public benefits through process innovation for safety and environmental friendliness for future