Overview
Built upon decades of experience, Miller Thomson’s Automotive Group provides one-stop shopping to our auto industry clients to address their legal and regulatory needs. Our Group consists of lawyers who have the in-depth and breadth of knowledge and expertise to serve our auto industry clients in a range of business areas, and to help them meet the industry’s diverse challenges. Our Group represents companies that operate in virtually every sector of the automotive industry, including original equipment manufacturers, Tier suppliers, Canadian and foreign acceptance companies and other lenders, and trade associations. With four of our 10 offices located in Ontario, we are embedded in the heart of the Canadian auto industry. With an office in Montreal, we also provide civil law as well as common law expertise for clients with operations across Canada.
Our cross-disciplinary Group advises on a wide range of issues common to the auto industry, including:
- financial services
- mergers, acquisitions and start up activities
- foreign investment
- environmental
- international trade and customs
- bankruptcy and insolvency
- tax
- real estate and construction
- competition
- advertising and marketing
Some of the services that we offer our various auto industry clients include:
Manufacturers:
- Information on government incentives
- The creation and expansion of plants, and equipping of factories
- Environmental compliance in land purchases, construction and plant operations
- Importing and exporting vehicles and equipment, customs duties and commodity taxes; homologation services
- Immigration advice for the cross border movement of senior executives
- Contract preparation for daily rental and fleet customers
- Auction house arrangements
- Training and assisting management in employee relations in both union and union-free environments; the negotiation, interpretation and administration of collective agreements; settling unfair labour practice disputes and supporting employers during union organizing campaigns and strikes; workplace health and safety compliance and defence work
Lenders and Lessors:
- Advising banks, auto acceptance companies and other lenders in every aspect of construction, mortgage, wholesale and retail financing of vehicles and of distributors and dealerships
- Regulatory compliance in consumer protection cost of credit, privacy, and other matters for retail leasing and financing
- Vicarious liability issues to lessors and lenders as conditional sale vendors; defending lessors and lenders in motor vehicle accident claims
- Collections; vehicle seizures; enforcing security on vehicle collateral; dealership and supplier insolvencies and instances of fraud
