Canada’s share of vehicle production in North America is holding steady but may deteriorate in the years ahead because the country is too dependent on output by Detroit’s struggling automakers, according to an analysis by a leading consultancy.

Auto assembly factories in Canada last year cranked out just over 2 million vehicles, down nearly 1 million units from their peak in 1999.

Total output was the lowest year since 1992, falling 19.4% from 2007.

Canadian plants nevertheless pumped out about 16% of all auto output in the United States, Canada and Mexico, new figures from Richmond-Hill, Ont.-based DesRosiers Automotive Consultants show. Given that Canadian auto sales represent only 8% of the North American total, its manufacturing output remains healthy, said Dennis DesRosiers, president of the consultancy. Canada’s auto output jumped from 7.7% of North America’s new vehicles in the 1960s to 15.9% in the 1990s.

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