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Sorry to be a bit more exact on this statement. The Halifax Volvo "assembly" plant closed in December 1998. There was a bit of a protest since the UAW workers tried to illegally occupy the plant after some labour strife (yes, I'm Canadian). Volvo had already anounced in the fall of 1998 that it intended to close the plant on December 18th.
The plant was closed for many reasons:
- the import duties and tax incentives to build Volvos in North America had dimished greatly since the 1963 opening in nearby Dartsmouth (old sugar refinery)
- Volvo did not intend to build the 70 series in Canada (850 was the last model)
- Volvo was setting itself up for the eventual purchase by Ford in February 1999
- it was obviously unprofitable to continue production (a business decision, eh)
- the workmanship (at least in the beginning, was not the same as a Swedish built Volvo (IMHO!)
Maybe if Brett can contact a worker at the plant, he/she could confim if any B20 Amazons were produced at Halifax. I recently e-mailed with a South African who owns a 1970 registered Amazon that he believes was made in South Africa after the last official Swedish built Amazon rolled off the assembly line in July 1969.
Hope this helps to establish what period Volvos were assembled at the Canadian plant.
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Cam a.k.a. CVOLVO.COM
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