Every year since 2006, the national association representing car dealers, the Canadian Automobile Dealers Association, has awarded three CADA Laureate Awards to dealers in three distinct categories: ambassadorship, retail operations and innovation.

By my simple math that means there are just over 50 CADA Laureates remaining, (56 have been awarded, including two ambassador Laureates) and a few have since sadly passed on.

Out of the approx. 3,400 dealers across Canada, that’s a pretty small and exclusive group. You could fit them all inside a private box to watch an NHL game.

Collectively, they represent the brightest stars, most generous dealers, sharpest business operators and most innovative dealers in Canada — and likely North America. I have interviewed, and personally met just about every one of them.

Okay, I never met the 2016 Honourary Ambassador Laureate R.S. Sam McLaughlin who passed away in 1972, because believe it or not I wasn’t editing Canadian auto dealer back then!

So when I say that this group of men and women are truly the cream of the crop from Canada’s automotive retail industry, I am speaking from direct personal experience. Several have become friends over the years.

Each year, after the CADA Chairman calls them to inform them they won the award, and that they are sworn to secrecy, I’m the next person they are allowed to talk to about this award. It’s always a fun interview. They are, perhaps not surprisingly, usually humble and deflect the attention away from themselves to their broader team.

That spirit of humility and team was again on display when I attended the plaque ceremony for the latest dealer to join the ranks of the CADA Laureates in Kitchener, Ont., Andrew Ojamae from the AutoIQ Group, who won in the business innovation category.

In his interview, and in chatting before the ceremony, you could see Andrew went to great lengths to ensure that each of the 16 dealerships in his group was recognized for contributing to the award. Many of the dealer principals from those stores, or their General Managers visited Kitchener on a snowy November afternoon for the ceremony.

Even during his remarks, Andrew stressed this was a team win, and that although it might be an individual honour, the credit belonged to the group. Andrew, like his mentor and business partner Mike Stollery who won the award two years earlier, is a class act.

Andrew was right in sharing credit with his team. Innovation is a tough nut to crack. As he rightfully acknowledged during our interview, ideas are a dime a dozen, and getting them implemented is what takes work, charisma, leadership and a team willing to do it.

Andrew has all of that in spades, and his quiet and humble determination, with a steady hand of accountability and transparency in assessing the results, is what enabled the group to embark on a host of innovative initiatives that caught the eye of the judges from the Ivy School of Business at Western University that ultimately picked the winners.

Another secret to Andrew’s success is his connection to the Automotive Business School of Canada, where he himself graduated, and where he met his future business partner Stollery. Andrew once shared with me that he had his own “depth charts” of the ABSC graduating class, with insights about where they lived, where they wanted to end up in their careers, and then he actively recruited those that were a good fit.

Canada’s CADA Laureates are truly a national treasure for our industry, and the drive to become a Laureate is something that makes every dealer just that much better — and that ultimately is what the program is all about. Somewhere, CADA Laureate program founder Rick Gauthier is smiling.

The post Nice guys can finish first appeared first on Canadian Auto Dealer.

As of press time, it was full steam ahead for the return of Canada Night at NADA.

This event, initially sparked a few years ago by Alan Bird and his colleagues over at SCI Marketview, now taq Automotive Intelligence, was a good idea then — and it’s a good idea now.

While everyone likes a good party with great music, it’s about more than that. It solves a fundamental challenge with Canadians who attend this super-sized dealer conference as it rotates to various large U.S. cities each year.

Lots of Canadians descend upon NADA each year, dealers and their teams, suppliers and their teams, media, and industry association leaders.

Some set up pre-meetings and conduct business while there, but many others wander through the trade show floor and conference sessions, and take in some of the sponsored events and parties at night.

The challenge is, the event is huge and spread out over many days, so the odds of you accidentally meeting lots of other Canadians is pretty remote.

What’s been great to see, is the level of support, both financial and in time, that the Canadian suppliers are putting behind this event.

By gathering all the Canadians together on the eve of the start of the event, the Canadian contingents get a chance to meet, chat, network, catch up, and plan future meetings. In effect, they can do business.

This is particularly important for the Canadian suppliers who are sent down by their companies to meet and drum up business for their companies.

Canadian auto dealer is one of the media partners working to promote the event, and I have attended some of the committee meetings and planning sessions.

What’s been great to see, is the level of support, both financial and in time, that the Canadian suppliers are putting behind this event. While Alan Bird and his event team, led by Lara Appleton are still doing the lion’s share of the heavy lifting to get this event going again, the other suppliers are digging in too.

In the real world outside this event, some of these sponsors are also competitors (including us competing for advertising dollars with Automotive News) but for the greater good, people are working together and cooperating.

That cooperative spirit is part of the event’s DNA and something insisted upon by Alan Bird. All sponsors also pay the same and get equal billing in event promotion, so there’s no one company that can elbow their way to the front of the line for added exposure.

Above all though, the event is always a heck of great party, with great food, drinks and amazing Canadian musical acts. The first event in 2016 featured an intimate night of music with Blue Rodeo’s Jim Cuddy. The event paused the next year to allow CADA to celebrate its 75th anniversary with a roaring party in New Orleans featuring Tom Cochrane.

In 2018, the event was back in Vegas with Alan Doyle, Great Big Sea’s frontman, and in the last event before COVID in 2019 the Barenaked Ladies blew away the huge crowd in San Francisco.

I won’t spill the beans on this year’s musical act, but suffice it to say if you are a Canadian dealer, you will want to act quickly to book your ticket for one of the hottest nights in Vegas in February. See you there!

The post Canada Night Eh’ is back! appeared first on Canadian Auto Dealer.

I encourage you to read the column on artificial intelligence on page 34 by Dee Murphy-Brown in this issue.

As I was editing her column, I was struck by the line:

“Over the next half-decade, early adopters will likely start reaping the benefits of AI tools. Another five years down the line, we might find it challenging to find a dealership where AI isn’t an integral part of the F&I process.”

The reason the quote stood out to me, particularly the line “we might find it challenging to find a dealership where AI isn’t an integral part of the F&I process” is how matter of fact it is about the arrival, adoption and acceptance of AI.

She writes as though it’s a foregone conclusion that AI is not only coming to dealerships, it’s here, chugging along, and before we know it will be “old news” and just the way things are done.

I think she’s entirely right.

And it won’t just be in the business office, where the sheer power of machine learning and number crunching consumer behaviours will lead to more accurate credit approval decisions.

AI and machine learning in particular will be used in applications through all aspects of a dealership’s operations from how they respond to digital and phone leads, predict customer demand for new and used vehicles, manage their service operations and actual service work, run their physical facilities, and a host of ways we can’t even yet imagine.

There’s a famous observation called Amara’s law that suggests we tend to “overestimate the impact of technology in the short-term and underestimate the effect in the long run.”

This phenomenon helps explain why there is often such hype for new technologies, and why people tend to downplay or resist the hype when the next great thing comes along.

Consider, for example, how much hype there was about autonomous vehicles only a few years ago, and how aggressive the timelines were for the adoption of this technology that is still many years away from being even close to mainstream and in wide usage.

So, I get the skepticism.

But as a July 2023 study from CDK Global, “What Automotive Dealers Think About Artificial Intelligence” discovered, dealers are already buying into the promise of AI. 76 per cent of dealers surveyed say they are already seeing the benefits of AI and 60 per cent of dealers who plan on using AI are expecting positive outcomes.

Some of the most productive areas for AI among dealers surveyed included: improving sales and marketing efforts, helping with pricing decisions, targeting customers through propensity to buy, making product recommendations, forecasting inventory and predicting service failures.

Interestingly, only 10 per cent of dealers in the survey say they are “not at all familiar” with AI.

I’m hoping that if you find yourself in that 10 per cent, you’ll read Dee’s column, track down the CDK Global study and start mapping out ways AI can help your dealership.

If you don’t, and I know this sounds alarmist, there’s no doubt the dealerships you compete with are already hard at work trying to figure it out.

The post Demystifying AI appeared first on Canadian Auto Dealer.

To state the really obvious, ready or not,
EVs are coming.

Maybe not at the pace some expect, and some brands will be much faster to produce vehicles than others, but make no mistake — they are set to transform the way we move around.

I took a partial step towards electric vehicle ownership, when I recently purchased a plug-in hybrid.

Until then, the idea of EVs as an alternative propulsion system was an interesting story on many levels, and one I covered regularly in the magazine, but I really wasn’t personally affected one way or the other.

But since I now own one of these, I have had to learn more about how to integrate it into my daily life.

I’ve had to download several apps that show me where chargers might be located. This, incidentally, is almost nowhere near where I live and shop, and I’m about an hour northeast of Toronto — Canada’s most populated city. The nearest charger I can find on the apps is about a 25 minute drive from my home.

I’m also on the hunt for an electrician who can help me navigate adding a home charger to my century home that was built in 1860 and has upgraded electrical systems, but I’m not sure what it will entail to get home charging sorted out. Thankfully, the Universus offices have two chargers installed, so when I’m at work I’m charging up. On most days, there’s at least one more vehicle charging there too.

But the reality with a plug-in hybrid, is that I’m using the gasoline engine 90 per cent of the time. So, I’m not really dealing with the full EV experience. It’s more of a fun experiment to top up that battery and lower my gasoline usage and costs.

If I were in a battery-electric vehicle, well, I’d feel like the world isn’t really quite ready for me, or I’m not quite ready for it.

Which brings me back to the question in the headline: Are you ready for EVs?

The Canadian Automobile Dealers Association recently brought to our attention a new white paper from WEIS, a consulting firm specializing in retail innovation, about things dealerships need to consider — for their facilities — as we move to an EV future.

The 14-page white paper, (which you can download for free at www.WEIS.ca) “Seven Key Dealership Facility Impacts of Electric Vehicles” presented dealers with some things they really need to start thinking about, including:

• Obtaining sufficient power;
• Managing electrical consumption;
• Managing the customer experience;
• Managing infrastructure for EVs;
• Managing risk;
• Adaption to business changes;
• Managing the unknown.

The report is really worth reading, as it also discusses the fact that some of these areas are likely to become part of new dealer standards imposed by OEMs, and dealers should really be anticipating many of these changes, ideally so they too have some input.

“With this monumental transition there is little open discussion around what a transition to EVs actually means for the retailer of today, or more importantly, how existing facilities transition into an EV-ready retail space of tomorrow. Dealership facility designs will need to evolve to accommodate necessary infrastructure, from electric charging stations to EV service bays,” write the report’s authors.

While dealers are waiting on the availability of EV products, and sorting out the training of their teams about EVs, they would be wise to spend some time considering the impact on their facilities and the consumer experience.

Selling an EV might be fairly easy, but dealers will be expected to the new gold standard for providing a great customer experience to an owner, and having an EV-friendly facility will be expected.

The post Are you really ready for EVs? appeared first on Canadian Auto Dealer.

This issue marks an important milestone — but one that I’d just as soon not write about.

It will be the last column penned by our Tech Talk columnist Gerry Malloy. He’s hanging up his pen.

Gerry has been an automotive journalist for more than 25 years, and has been among a handful of people at the top of that game. He’s a three-time winner of the Automotive Journalists Association of Canada’s (AJAC) Automotive Journalist of the Year Award, and the recipient of multiple other awards for his automotive writing.

Some of you might also have seen Gerry’s work as a long-time columnist and feature writer for the Wheels section of the Toronto Star.

He’s the founding editor of Canadian auto dealer, and is easily one of the best writers I’ve worked with over my 25+ year career as a journalist and editor.

For starters, Gerry is one of few automotive journalists who really, really understand automotive technology. He holds Bachelor’s and Masters degrees in Mechanical Engineering and spent more than 20 years as an automotive test-and-development engineer — before starting his journalism career.

So, clearly, he knows what he’s talking about. But it’s more than that. Perhaps better than anyone I’ve worked with, Gerry has the ability to write clearly, and plainly, and can make the most technical subject in the world — accessible.

For someone with an engineering background, that’s no mean feat. For someone not “classically-trained” as a journalist, it’s all the more remarkable. Writers who have access to the most complex language available, but choose instead to simplify and clarify are at the top of my list of great writers. In effect, he’s the Ernest Hemmingway of automotive journalism in Canada.

Now, Gerry will hate everything about this editor’s note. Especially that last line. When he decided to step aside, he booked a meeting with myself and Publisher Niel Hiscox (who he’s known and worked with even longer) and told us about his decision. A class act in itself.

When we told him we’d like to write about his retirement in the magazine, in true Gerry fashion, he said he didn’t want any of that, and just wanted to quietly ride off into the sunset. That’s just Gerry. A shrug of the shoulders and a sly smile, giving you the sense that he’s got something else to say, but chooses not to.

So what else can I say about Gerry?

I’ll never forget the time he took me for a rip around the Test Fest track in Niagara in an Audi R8. I was both terrified and exhilarated as he whipped us around the track at breakneck speeds, and it’s when I discovered he was as skilled a driver as a writer.

He’s been a columnist for the better part of a decade and is always the first or among the first to submit it on time. A true professional.

I’ve learned something new from every column he submitted.

He’s as humble a guy as you’ll ever meet, gracious and generous with his time and ideas to others, and practices the kind of loyalty you just don’t see these days.

Simply put, they don’t make the Gerry Malloy model anymore.

While that’s really sad for me, and for the rest of you, all I can say is: Gerry, thanks for all you’ve done. You’ve made our industry better, and informed so many consumers and people in the auto industry along the way. Enjoy retirement — you’ve earned it.

The post A big thanks, to a great man appeared first on Canadian Auto Dealer.

We write a lot about the future of the automotive retail experience, and at times it seems like it’s a lot of theoretical discussions that don’t necessarily make it to the sales floor and service bays of our dealerships.

Being an admittedly impatient person myself, once a good new idea presents itself to me, I’m drawn to it pretty quickly and I am apt to discard the old idea or approach pretty readily.

It’s not always so easy on a company or dealership-wide level. Your employees will be more likely to stick to anything that has been a tried and true proven method for their own success. Most of that is dictated by the behaviours and actions they get rewarded for or that they see others rewarded for.

So, for example, if hitting your monthly sales targets is driving all your sales conversations, and the sales leaderboard is the visible display of that success, then you can’t be surprised or disappointed if they fall short on other key measures, like providing a great customer experience.

If your F&I and business office teams are only praised or rewarded for stellar sales months and exceeding targets, they can hardly be blamed for squeezing your customers a little harder and creating what we all recognize as one of the worst customer experiences in dealerships.

OEMs and analysts have been working at a 30,000 foot level re-imagining the entire customer journey, considering every customer touchpoint in our digital and physical omnichannel world. That’s all great. But the experiences your customers are going to feel are going to be dictated by the things you focus on, measure and reward on a daily basis.

That’s why it was such an interesting experience visiting the Genesis Retail Experience Centre in London, Ont. for a special ceremony earlier this month. They were the first auto retailer on the planet to be formally recognized as being “In Partnership with Forbes Travel Guide.” That means they met a set of rigorous standards that measured whether they were delivering an exceptional experience throughout all aspects of their dealership, or distributorship as they call it.

Darren Slind, Co-Founder and Managing Director of Clarify Group, a Markham, Ont.-based research and consultancy firm that worked with Genesis to launch the program, was on hand for the special ceremony. “We looked at all of the touch points in the guest journey,” said Slind. “What’s impressive is the consistency with which the Genesis London team delivers that elevated experience to their guests.”

During the tour of their facility, and in an interview at the event, General Managing Partner Hass Hijazi, explained the differences in approaches that make the Genesis experience so different for their guests.

The use of the term “guest” is very much on point at Genesis London. From the layout of the facility, the design, flow, amenities and personal touches, it very much caters to a guest experience in the luxury space. Even the washrooms are well appointed with personal touches you might expect at a resort or spa, like mouthwash. The coffee is served in China not paper cups, the guest waiting area looks like a stylish café.

When guests pull up to the Genesis branded service bay, the doors automatically open and they are greeted by an enthusiastic and well-trained ownership experience manager. Their vehicle is checked in, their needs are discussed, and they never set foot anywhere near an actual service bay. The vehicle is shuttled off to the service center adjacent to the building.

Regardless of their role, these are highly-trained people who are comparing the guest experience they are delivering against those at luxury hotels, restaurants and resorts.

It might seem to be an oversimplification, but they are treating their valued guests like, well, valued guests.

The post Treating guests like, well, guests appeared first on Canadian Auto Dealer.

So far 2023 has been the year that keeps on giving. Giving us optimism, as well as learning, reconnecting and entertainment opportunities that are getting the auto industry excited about what we do again.

In January, the Canadian auto dealer team rode into Dallas for the huge and exciting NADA Show. February was chock full of long-awaited industry events, including the Montreal International Auto Show, the CADA Summit and the Canadian International AutoShow. All of these events were well executed and well attended, with the Summit being sold out, and both of the auto shows breaking visitor records in their first few days. Canadian auto dealer was at all of these events and you can read all about it in our coverage in this issue.

This year we’ve seen some well-needed emphasis on the need for more diversity in the industry, and for our company boardrooms and showrooms to look more like Canada’s communities. Accelerate Auto has been doing a great job of encouraging opportunities for Black talent in car dealerships, manufacturers, the aftermarket and suppliers—”while tackling the systemic racism that is hampering progress” through awareness, mentorship, education and partnership.

Another initiative working toward more representation in auto is the Scotiabank Women in Auto Accelerator, which aims “to attract and retain more women in the automotive industry by helping them access and excel in leadership positions”. This program has just finished its first year in Quebec, and has announced the names of the young women enrolled in the second year. The program has had such a positive impact on both the mentors and the mentees that there are plans to expand Women in Auto Accelerator across Canada this year. We will make sure to cover this progress as more information gets released.

Speaking of women in auto, Kay Layne is a well-respected journalist in the automotive realm, and she was on hand to do the Green Carpet Interviews at the CADA Summit this year. While she was at the Summit she took some time to sit down and talk with a few women currently working in the industry, getting their insights on what their challenges are, what they love about their work and how they think the industry can be more accommodating to women.

Another way the industry is moving into the future is by embracing technology and social media in every new incarnation. Though it’s hard to keep up with the breakneck speed of big tech, there will always be those who take new inventions and adapt them to enhance operations in auto dealerships. In this issue, Perry Lefko delves into what is new and what is working for the early adopters among us, and gets an insider’s view of what might be coming down the pipe.

So we hope this issue puts some spring in your step and gives you insight and inspiration that will energize you and your business for the busy seasons to come.

The post Auto industry is back and evolving appeared first on Canadian Auto Dealer.

As I write this, the Year of the Tiger in the Chinese zodiac has just ended, with its turmoil and drastic highs and lows, and the Year of the Rabbit has just begun. The sign of the Rabbit is said to be a symbol of longevity, peace, and prosperity in Chinese culture, and 2023 is predicted to be a year of hope. After weathering the last couple of years, I think most in the auto dealer community feel confident that we can get through anything the pesky Rabbit may have in store for us.

With such an eventful year behind us, with a mix of circumstances that were both challenging and ripe with opportunity, what can we learn? Our intrepid reporter, Perry Lefko, tracked down a range of experts and prominent dealers to find out how they made the best of the year, and what lessons they are taking forward into 2023.

Also in this issue, I looked into some creative strategies that some auto dealers are using to maximize the potential of their real estate, by building up, not out. While skyrocketing land costs may be pricing some dealerships right out of urban areas in places like Vancouver and Toronto, Destination Auto Group, Downtown AutoGroup and Jim Pattison Auto Group have created developments that incorporate urban dealerships into residential and commercial spaces that make sense from a business perspective, a land-use perspective, as well as a city planning perspective.

2022 was the year that industry events came back into our lives, and this month I’m looking forward to the NADA Show in Dallas, Texas, where the North American industry will come together to showcase the newest and most exciting new technology, retail innovation, pathways to speed electrification, and expert advice and inspiration for success in all aspects of running a dealership. Make sure to read our March issue and our eNews to find out the wildest and most interesting things we saw and heard at this massive and comprehensive show.

Another major event in the Canadian auto dealer calendar is always the CADA Summit. This year, the fantastic line-up of speakers includes Sverre Helno, a Norwegian auto dealer who will be talking about Norway’s successful transition to electric vehicles, and  Walmart Canada Head of Innovation Lee Jeyes, who will share his experiences leading Walmart’s first-ever innovation accelerator and incubator, which is focused on “testing and scaling radical innovations in retail”. Our March issue will have a rundown of the highlights of the CADA Summit as well as the winners of the 2022 DSI Awards, which recognize the top ranked manufacturers in CADA’s 2022 Dealer Satisfaction Index Survey.

Auto shows have also come back, some in a traditional format, such as the Canadian International AutoShow and the Montreal International Auto Show, and some, like the Vancouver International Auto Show, are happening in a series of more dispersed and interactive events over the course of the year. Make sure you get out and support these great automotive celebrations, and learn about all the cool new vehicles, trends and tech from OEMs, and maybe even take a test drive.

I look forward to getting out to many shows and events this year and I hope to meet some of you out and about. Please reach out to me if your dealership has any interesting news, events or community initiatives. I’m always interested in hearing and publishing dealers’ stories from all over the country.

The post Moving ahead, while taking home the lessons from 2022 appeared first on Canadian Auto Dealer.

Congratulations, if you’re reading this you made it through 2022, a year that started off on very shaky ground, with new virus strains, continuing economic disruption, and a new war to top it off.

But over the last six months, we’ve come to know what to expect on the COVID front, because of our high vaccination rates (and the fact that most people have had it by now); and we’re starting to see positive projections on the supply chain front, though most experts are forecasting a a return to pre-pandemic levels is still some months, or perhaps a year, away.

Acceptance, and even enthusiasm for electric vehicles by consumers is creating an environment where OEMs are innovating frantically to have a competitive advantage, making it an exciting time to follow the latest product offerings and technical inventions.

While doing interviews and research for the 2023 forecasting story, one view that was prevalent was a generally optimistic outlook for the automotive industry in the next year.

Despite all the challenges, 2022 for many dealers was one of their most profitable ever, and a healthy bottom line is leading into confidence going forward. The industry once again benefitted from a culture of resilience and creativity in a way that many of the experts I spoke with commented upon.

These positive traits were in abundance at the two conferences I attended in the last two months, where I got the chance to meet dealers from all over the country, as well as see the latest and greatest new offerings by suppliers aiming to make running an auto retailing business maximally efficient and profitable.

Trillium Automobile Dealers Association’s ACE conference in Niagara Falls featured inspiring content and a whole day featuring speakers and panels that spoke about increasing and promoting diversity, equity and inclusion in the automotive realm.

At CADEX in November, The Nova Scotia Automobile Dealers Association put on a wonderful day of learning in Halifax that was topped off by the President’s Dinner in the evening. For a more thorough look at these events, read the “Impactful events” section of the magazine on page 14, where you can also get geared up and make plans for a couple of exciting conferences coming up in the new year.

Lastly, I’d like to make a correction from the October issue. The column on page 34 “Practicing what I preach” was incorrectly attributed to Dr. Gordon Shields, when it was, in fact, written by our esteemed regular columnist Darren Slind. Many apologies for the error.

So moving forward, we at Canadian auto dealer would like to wish all our readers a happy, healthy and prosperous New Year. Whatever challenges and opportunities lie ahead for the auto retail industry, we will be with you every step of the way, with information, insights, and expert opinions. Cheers!

The post Embracing the EV-olution in 2023 appeared first on Canadian Auto Dealer.

As we, as a society, emerge from the pandemic, and we, as an industry, see glimmers of the end of historic supply shortages, I’m doing a bit of a slow emergence myself, from behind the scenes to being a more public face for Canadian auto dealer. Don’t worry, Todd Phillips is still here, backing the publication with his deep industry knowledge, connections, and finely-honed journalistic instincts, but he’s now spreading his creative talents more evenly across the company.

Happily, I have a great team, including one of the best auto writers in the business, Perry Lefko, and a stable of the most knowledgeable and talented columnists in the country. Getting out there for the magazine also coincides with a new season that includes lots of industry conventions, shows and events where I, and the Canadian auto dealer team, can get out and make connections in person, all over the country. And sometimes even outside the country.

In September, The Western Canadian Dealer Summit was my initiation to automotive conventions, and it was so impressive we made it the cover of this issue. It was incredible to meet, in-person, our dealer readers, and find out what is on everyone’s minds these days. Of course the highlight of the three-day event was the opportunity to meet Jim Pattison, the industry legend and billionaire philanthropist. Pattison generously gave his time, meeting people, chatting informally, and concluding the Summit with a fireside conversation where he recounted some of his early adventures in automotive. A few of us from Vancouver got the treat of a lifetime when he kindly offered to fly us home on his private jet! It was a truly memorable experience.

The provincial associations really go all out to bring attendees the most up-to-date information on technology, industry and consumer trends and government policy, all in a fun and inspirational setting, this time at the posh Wynn Las Vegas. The professional sessions and sponsors created a great deal of value for attendees, and the social events were a wonderful way to reconnect with suppliers, colleagues and industry friends old and new.

I’m really looking forward to connecting with everyone this month, at TADA’s ACE Convention at Niagara Falls, Ontario. ACE promises to be an electrifying event, featuring speakers like Chris Hadfield, and representatives from Google Data and TikTok, talking about using technology to overcome obstacles. Look for the Canadian auto dealer and Universus Media Group booth on the trade show floor, come over for your free professional headshot, and meet the team!

Come November, I’m going to be in the Maritimes at the CADEX convention in Halifax, which I’m also really excited about. This half-day conference for dealers features speakers like CADA’s Tim Reuss, Canadian auto dealer publisher Niel Hiscox, Global Automakers of Canada’s David Adams and many more industry experts. Then in January, we’re hightailing it down to Dallas for the NADA Show, where we’re sure to meet loads of people from all over North America and learn about the very latest innovations and trends we’ll be seeing in the years to come.

So if you see me, please come over and introduce yourself. I love meeting industry people, talking about the business of selling cars and hearing how we can make the magazine better for all our readers.

The post Emerging and connecting appeared first on Canadian Auto Dealer.

When it comes to making key decisions, it’s always an interesting question: does someone with years (or decades) of industry experience rely on their “gut” instinct or numbers in a spreadsheet to make a decision? 

Dealers have to make key decisions every single day. Whether it comes to recruitment and hiring, interactions with OEMs, interpreting reports from their various department managers or a host of external sources like industry forecasters, media agencies or bankers.

At first blush, it seems like the gut vs. numbers approach to decision-making might seem to just be about someone’s age and their “old-school” methods vs. “modern” or “technology-driven” methods. 

But it goes much deeper. 

There’s a fascinating article by Alden Hayashi in the Harvard Business Review called “When to trust your gut.” 

The article starts with a great example from the automotive industry when then head of Chrysler Bob Lutz came up with an idea that ultimately transformed the company’s reputation and fortunes in the 1990s. He was out for a leisurely drive in Michigan in his Mustang Cobra and felt guilty to be enjoying another brand’s vehicle, and was lamenting the fact that his company didn’t have an exciting, powerful car of its own. So he decided to build one.

He assembled a team to develop what became the Dodge Viper. Ultimately, the Viper became a “smashing success” writes the author: “It single-handedly changed the public’s perception of Chrysler, dramatically boosting company morale and providing the momentum that the company desperately lacked, ultimately spurring its dramatic turnaround in the 1990s.”

But Lutz’s determination went against all the numbers and his critics were many. The accountants argued the $80 million investment would be better spent elsewhere, the sales teams argued no one would buy a $50,000 car, and according to the author Lutz had no market research to support him: just his gut instincts. 

Even when asked years later about how he made one of the key decisions of his career Lutz said: “It was this subconscious visceral feeling. And it just felt right.” 

Interestingly, the higher one goes up the corporate ladder, the bigger a role “gut instinct” but built upon seasoned business experience appears to play in decision making. 

The author of the article interviewed leading scientists who study how people make decisions and determined that: “the type of instinctive genius that enables a CEO to craft the perfect strategy for usurping competitors could require an uncanny ability to detect patterns, perhaps subconsciously, that other people either overlook or mistake for random noise.”

I have interviewed hundreds of car dealers over the years. They are some of the smartest and most savvy business people you will ever meet. My sense of them is that they are very much the types to trust their gut instincts. They will of course assess the data, hear the reports from people they trust, but ultimately will make the decisions that “feel right.” 

With so much uncertainty facing the auto retail industry, and as so many daily issues crop up to take their focus and attention from the future of business, I believe car dealers are very much going to be trusting their guts in the years to come. Never has there been a time when so many people are predicting so many different possible outcomes for their businesses. 

My advice? Lean heavily on all your middle managers, suppliers and business partners to provide you with the best available data. Then trust your gut instinct!

The post Do you trust your gut? appeared first on Canadian Auto Dealer.

Every so often, you hear a term or phrase used often enough that it penetrates your consciousness. 

Like, “tech stack.” 

At Universus, we were doing an analysis of our own tech stack, to see if our tools were suitable for a robust workflow, change management and client communications on various projects. 

The term also came up in conversations during a recent video interview with Jay Vijayan, Founder and CEO of Tekion, and former CIO of Tesla. I encourage you to watch the video on the Canadian auto dealer website; it was an interesting chat.

For those who aren’t as familiar with the term, a quick Google search retrieved this definition: 

“A tech stack is the combination of technologies a company uses to build and run an application or project. Sometimes called a “solutions stack,” a tech stack typically consists of programming languages, frameworks, a database, front-end tools, back-end tools, and applications connected via APIs.”

In a nutshell, for dealerships, the tech stack is the full combination of all the software tools and devices that run your business. 

The reason the term is relevant, is that as Jay referenced in our interview, some dealers have dozens, and some as many as 100 different applications patched together into their tech stack. 

It can make for a confusing web of functions and services with technology developed from different companies, in different eras and without an easy migration path forward. 

Now dealers can continue to limp along with a mess of disconnected systems, where customer records and information aren’t shared, and where dealership teams have to navigate logins, passwords and different interfaces for each of the various software vendors. Sure, it’s the way it’s been done. 

But the biggest losers with this approach are your customers, not your staff.

To really deliver that next generation experience, where customers feel known and respected and valued, your software tools need to deliver that transparent information in real-time, when needed. 

The new market entrants in the mobility space, like Lucid or Rivian or Tesla, have a huge advantage over traditional dealers when it comes to their “tech stack.” They don’t have locked in contracts, and patched together quilts of code. They are starting fresh with modern and updated tech stacks, and can very quickly optimize their software platforms to provide a superior customer experience. 

Sure, the people in your dealerships will always be a major contributor to the customer experience. But increasingly, you will be judged, and rated by the technology that underpins a great customer experience. 

When I shop for a vehicle on your website, can I easily find all the available inventory? Can I build the vehicle I want, and navigate through all the details I need to purchase the vehicle? Can I effortlessly line up financing, pick the F&I products I want to add, calculate my payments, reserve the vehicle, and watch walkaround videos?

When I now visit your dealership, does anyone already know who I am and what my preferences are? Or am I starting all over? When I pick up my vehicle, does someone have a personalized experience for me to introduce me to the key features I am after? Are there digital tools available where I can self-serve to learn more about the vehicle?

Once I acquire a vehicle, can I book my service online? Can I get automated updates about the progress on my vehicle while it’s being serviced? 

These are all the types of services customers now expect. Not because they are ever more demanding. Just because other companies in other industries have mastered the tech that underpins a seamless experience. The auto retail industry will get there, but the drive for change must start from the top with the dealers. 

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