The Canadian auto industry is going to be facing some tough decisions in the ethical side of manufacturing their product. The age old battle of manufacturing on Canadian’s own land and helping our economy or taking the production line somewhere which is more costly efficient. Putting more pressure on the firms as well is Canadian auto analysis Joe MacCabe, he is predicting a 600,000 unit decrease in production by 2020. A simple solution to this predicament would be manufacturing “…south of the Ohio border”. It almost feels like a no brainer, making the same car for a cheaper amount. An even more drastic change would be producing in Mexico. But one thing is for sure, Canadian government does not want to lose these companies. They demonstrated this with a reasonable 71.6 million dollar investment in Ford’s operations in Oakville.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/windsor/canadian-auto-production-predicted-to-plunge-25-1.1928685

“Why fly when we could be taking a bullet train?” Is what individuals all over China are asking themselves every day. Nearly five years ago when China‘s high speed trains were debating launching their business they had to take into account trying to enter an already competitive travel market. Although, with over-population being an emerging problem in China it was a perfect opportunity for high speed trains to enter the market. The train companies are offering what the public wants; people are impatient and want to get from point A to point B quickly. No one wants to wait in a security line up at the airport, neither do they want to drive when traffic has been constantly increasing at 28 percent every year for the past few years. One of the reasons for Chinas economic growth is supposedly the link to enhanced traveling for business and domestic travellers. In conclusion, as mentioned in porters five forces; high speed trains were a threat of new entry to the travel market. They are most definitely a threat of substitution to domestic flights and motor vehicle transportation (now the leading method of transportation). With the vast and large population there is a very competitive market in China.

New bullet train undergoing test on December 24, 2009

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/24/business/global/high-speed-train-system-is-huge-success-for-china.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

Maybe it could be from the dismal stock shares, maybe from the one billion dollar loss last quarter; maybe it is simply that the product in consumers minds just isn’t comparable to the competitors. Whatever the reason, last week Blackberry a product of RIM, made the first step in going private. The company in which they are currently in a diligence period with is FairFax Financial Holdings Limited. They have been offered nine dollars per share or 4.7 billion. Yes this is more value than blackberry has for their share right now but with how poorly the company has done and is projected to do, taking a step backwards could be the best decision for the struggling establishment. When I say struggling I mean eleven percent of the market share in November of 2011 and continuing to decrease even with the production of a new product line (Blackberry Z10). FairFax already owning ten percent of RIM’s Blackberry might have some inside knowledge on what could be done to better off the company. They could just be looking for 100 percent control of the company or going private and taking Blackberry off the market is all they are hopping to achieve. Either way they have put forward a fairly large financial offer on the table. The business minds over at FairFax definitely have something in plan for RIM involving either the technology or specific product of Blackberry.

http://www.businessinsider.com/blackberry-offer-to-go-private-2013-9