Automotive News Canada - August 2016 - 3

SECOND FRONT
Nearly zero support for EVs in Manitoba
Government provides no
incentives and in fact wants
people to use less electricity,
says the only Tesla agent for
the three Prairie provinces

"Because it's electric, there are a
thousand moving parts this car doesn't
have," he said. "That's a thousand failure points it also doesn't have. Brakes,
windshield wipers, cabin filters; these
are your consumables.
"Tesla doesn't believe in making
money on service. They believe the current business model is broken, and that
service shouldn't be a profit centre.
Things should just work."

By KELLY TAYLOR
WINNIPEG CORRESPONDENT

AS AN AGENT FOR AN EXPENSIVE
electric car in a part of Canada with little support for electric vehicles, making
sales can be a challenge.
Such is the case for Winnipeg's Nott
Autocorp - since 2015 the exclusive
agent for Tesla on the Canadian Prairies
- which has sold, so far, about half of
the city's Tesla fleet, estimated at 20
vehicles.
This despite the relative scarcity of
public charging stations and the complete absence of any kind of government
funding, such as the rebates offered
in Ontario (up to $8,500) and British
Columbia (up to $5,000).
"I guess the challenge is increasing
customer knowledge," said Jeff Janzen,
Nott's sales and marketing manager.
"It's definitely a challenge in a smaller
market without a lot of the infrastructure."
Most of that education is on service,
and on the cost of a "fill," which Janzen
said is about $6 to $7. As for service,
he said the simplicity of electric cars

PROVINCE HAS NO REBATES

P H O T O : K E L LY TAY L O R

It might be lonely on the Prairies for
Jeff Janzen, sales and marketing
manager for Nott Autocorp, partly
due to a Manitoba government that
he says has no interest providing
incentives.
reduces the service schedule down to
one yearly inspection, as well as periodic software updates either at the dealer
or via the vehicle's built-in LTE cellular
data capability.

There are, according to the Canadian
Automobile Association, only 14 public
charging stations in Winnipeg, a city of
nearly 800,000 people.
Plugshare.com - which includes
outlets owned privately - lists 30 stations, including at least two Tesla superchargers and a handful of Level 3 (480volt) fast-charge stations, in the vicinity.
Most owners listed - including furniture store IKEA, dealerships and small
businesses - are generous with sharing.
Janzen said the resistance in
Manitoba to a rebate for electric vehicles stems from a different perspective.
"The political pressure is to reduce
the demand for hydroelectricity, not so
much to reduce the province's carbon
footprint."
That has been a bone of contention for the Manitoba Electric Vehicle
Association for years, given the prov-

SEE TESLA MODEL 3 PAGE 17

Ontario, TRANS-CANADA NEWS 5,000 KILOMETRES OF STORIES
Michigan
agree to
team up
Westport Fuels
Systems appoints
Gougarty as CEO

Collaboration will
bring "continued
growth and job
creation" to both
economies
B Y A U T O M O T I V E N E W S S TA F F

TRAVERSE CITY, Mich.
- The state of Michigan
and the province of Ontario
signed a memorandum of
understanding Aug. 3 to
increase their respective
competitiveness in the automotive industry.
The agreement is
designed to create best practices, cohesive public policy, increased supply chain
integration and technology
transfer agreements.
It was not said whether
any public funding would be
used to support the agreement.
Ontario Premier
Kathleen Wynne and
Michigan Governor Rick
Snyder signed the agreement in Traverse City,
Michigan.
Ontario and Canada's
advisor on the automo-

SEE COLLABORATING PAGE 17

Nancy Gougarty has
taken over the top job at
Vancouver-based Westport
Fuel Systems Inc., a global alternative fuel company
specializing in natural gasbased systems.
She previously served as
president and COO of the
company. Gougarty's career
spans nearly three decades
in the transportation-equipment industry including
senior automotive executive stints
with TRW
Corp., AsiaPacific; Delphi,
Automotive
Systems,
Japan and
Korea; Delphi
Packard, Asia- Nancy
Gougarty
Pacific; and
GM's Packard- is the new
CEO of
Electric
Westport
Division.
She replac- Fuels.
es David Demers, who
retired.
In addition to her role
as CEO, Gougarty joins the
Westport board of directors.

Furnace fine-tuning
nets environment,
cost savings

Heat recovery and furnace improvements at Fiat
Chrysler Automobile's
Etobicoke, Ont., casting
plant have increased efficiency on three fronts, the
company says.

Destination Toyota of Burnaby, B.C. recently opened a
new dealership with 28 service bays and a full-service
body shop.
The plant changed how
a furnace operated to recover heat that was previously being lost, said the company's environment and
energy manager Inderpreet
Rishi.
As a result, furnace efficiency jumped 20 per cent,
annual carbon dioxide emissions came down by 13,000
tonnes and about $150,000
a year was saved in energy
costs.
It and other manufacturing and operational
improvements stem from
an internal program at FCA
Canada where employees
submit project ideas for an
Environment, Health and
Safety Leadership award.
The 26,300-square-metre
(285,000-square-foot) casting
plant employs about 500 people, making aluminum die
castings and pistons for FCA
vehicles.

A new 'Destination'
for Toyota buyers

After almost 25 years
in the B.C. community

of Burnaby, Destination
Toyota recently celebrated
the beginning of an era in
the area with the opening of
a 8,360 square-metre (90,000
square-foot) dealership.
Highlights include 28 service bays with sophisticated diagnostic equipment,
full-service body shop, dedicated parts and tire centre and an ultra-modern car
wash facility.
It's adding staff, too: "The
hiring of 40 new employees brings our total team
to about 100," said Aziz
Ahamed, dealer principal.

All-EV car-rental
service launches

Ecomoto Inc. has begun
what it says is the first
all-electric car rental service
in Vancouver. The small
agency is offering Nissan
Leaf battery EVs but wants
to have a Tesla Model S by
October.
Ecomoto has no storefront, with bookings handled

SEE TRANS-CANADA PAGE 17

08.16

Auto dealers
help drive
Alberta
economy
Selling vehicles ranks third
in the province, behind oil
and cows; even small outlets
in small towns have a big
economic impact, study says
By HARRY PEGG
CALGARY CORRESPONDENT

ALBERTA'S AUTO INDUSTRY RANKS
third in the province in terms of economic
and social impacts, behind only the petroleum and cattle industries, a new survey
says.
Commissioned by the Alberta Motor
Dealers Association "to get a better understanding of the industry, and to share
that" with the new provincial NDP government
Oil is still king
and municipalities, it
clarifies the segment's
$33 Yearly
(2013) economic
importance to the prorevenue
vincial economy.
in billions
Conducted by conof dollars.
sulting firm MNP in
Edmonton, the survey
was sent to the provincial government's executive council and all
MLAs "so they would
(2008)
(2014)
know how big that deal$6
$4
ership is [in any given
Oil Cattle Cars
community]," said
Source: Province of
MDA President Denis
Alberta and MDA
Ducharme.
"Even if it's a small
outlet in a small town, it has a significant
impact." Ducharme was "surprised at the
size of our industry," he said in an interview.
The survey shows the Alberta car dealership industry has an annual economic
output of roughly $4 billion. It's roughly
two-thirds the output of the provincial cattle industry, about $6 billion.
Even combined, however, cars and cattle pale in comparison to the oil and gas
industry's contribution to Alberta's economy: $33 billion in 2013, ahead of the price
crash.
On the employment front, the 36,117
jobs supported by dealerships rank about
50 per cent that of the cattle industry
(62,612 in 2008).
In 2015, Alberta's franchised new-car
dealers sold 242,356 new vehicles while the
national total hit 1.89 million units. Retail
sales totalled $16.9 billion; that's 24 per
cent of all retail sales in Alberta. About 59
per cent, or $9.9 billion, was from new-vehicle sales.
The national total of $104.6 billion represented 20.3 per cent of national retail
sales.
In 2014, Alberta auto dealers conducted 9.5 million retail transactions, selling
408,820 new and used vehicles and leased
31,986 more. Parts invoices were just
above $4 million and service repairs were
$5.4 million.
Since taking a $2.5 billion hit in 2009,
dealer operating revenues in Canada have
grown steadily, reaching $18.8 billion in
2014.

SEE MORE THAN 36,000 PAGE 17

http://www.Plugshare.com

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