Windsor

Justin Trudeau's Japanese trip said to 'potentially benefit' Windsor

The head of the Automotive Parts Manufacturers’ Association says Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s visit with Japanese automakers is good news for Windsor auto parts makers.

'New OEMs are the lifeblood of the Canadian auto sector. Thank you for going to the source directly'

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau meets Toyota President and CEO Akio Toyoda at Toyota Motor Corporation's headoffice in Tokyo Tuesday. (Sean Kilpatrick/Canadian Press)

The head of the Automotive Parts Manufacturers' Association says Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's visit with Japanese automakers is good news for Windsor auto parts makers.

Flavio Volpe took to Twitter on Tuesday night to praise the prime minister's efforts in Japan.

When asked if the visit was good for Windsor, Volpe said because of the meetings, "Windsor firms all potentially benefit."

Volpe called the visit, aimed at landing new investment in Canada, "proactive" and "significant."

Trudeau personally invited Japanese auto executives Tuesday in Tokyo to invest more in Canada.

Trudeau met with auto parts manufacturers and the presidents of three auto companies: Honda, Toyota and Subaru.

Trudeau was asked what his auto sector meetings might yield.

"I am very much in the relationship-building mode, where we're talking about the kinds of challenges and opportunities that companies are facing," said Trudeau, who met with Fuji Heavy Industries' Yasuyuki Yoshinaga at the official residence of Canada's ambassador to Japan. "There are of course many positive conversations being had, not just by me but by our Trade Minister Chrystia Freeland, by Canadians working around the world to highlight the extraordinary opportunities to invest in our country."

But it's unclear whether he will secure concrete commitments from the companies on his first trip to Japan since taking office last fall.

With files from the Canadian Press