Automotive News Canada - January 2017 - 18

18

The next 10 years are
likely to be more crucial
than the last 30 or even
100 for the company
as technology becomes
the new currency
By STEPHANIE WALLCRAFT
TORONTO CORRESPONDENT

TUMULTUOUS AND
profound change is coming to
the automotive industry as the
traditional model morphs into
one defined by "mobility," the
complexities of which are still
coming into focus, says BMW
Canada President Hans Blesse.
For BMW Canada, which
marked its 30th anniversary in
2016, it means the next 10 years
will see more change than since
it opened shop here in 1986.
Alternative fuels and autonomous technologies pose unprecedented challenges for not just
BMW but the entire industry,
Blesse told Automotive News
Canada.
"It is common belief that this
industry will change more in
the next 10 years than it has in
the last 30, or even the last 100
years. We are well-prepared to
tackle that challenge."
BMW has the largest selection of battery-electric and plugin hybrid vehicles available in
the luxury segment, he said, and
more is to come.
"We now have in-house connectivity and app experts, and
even vehicles that respond to
hand gestures."

* JANUARY 2017

BMW@30

BMW TIMELINE

1986 Establishment of BMW
Group Canada.

1992 The country is divided into
western, central and eastern
divisions; regional offices
are opened in Montreal and
Vancouver.

1994 BMW Financial Services is
formed, and leasing becomes
available.

1995 Launch of bmw.ca;

financing options are added by
BMW Financial Services.

1996 The first M winter driver

training program is introduced.

1999 The BMW Experience

Centre, Canada's first BMW
corporate retail store, opens.

2002 Mini retailers open in

LONG-TERM ASSOCIATE

Blesse has been with BMW
Canada from the beginning,
when BMW Group Canada
established corporate operations and opened a national
head office in Whitby, Ont., with
40 employees and a handful of
BMW and Motorrad (motorcycle) models to sell.
He began in aftersales and
worked his way through sales,
marketing and training positions in Europe and the United
States before returning to
Canada to become president in
2014.
Blesse said 2016 was a good
year for the BMW Group, "both
globally and here at home."
"We've grown from a small
organization of a few dozen

Canada

2010 Headquarters are moved
from Whitby to Richmond Hill

2013 BMW University opens in

employees into a thriving company with over 200 associates."
Mini joined the stable in March
2002 when 15 retailers opened
across the country. The BMW
i electric vehicle line followed
in 2014.
Today there are 97 dealerships in Canada: 47 BMW; 30
MINI and 20 Motorrad. They
form a retail network of nearly
4,000 BMW employees.
Operations of subsidiary
Rolls-Royce are handled by
U.S.-based Rolls-Royce North
America. BMW moved to new
headquarters in Richmond Hill,
Ont., in March 2010.

BMW Group Canada
President Hans Blesse was
one of the original employees
when the company opened
its Whitby, Ont., office 30
years ago. (PHOTO: BMW CANADA)

TENFOLD GROWTH
It naturally follows that the
breadth of product offerings has
grown substantially over BMW
Group's history, as have sales.
The automaker sold 4,600
units in 1986 versus 44,621 vehicles (BMW and Mini combined)
in 2016; 2015 marked the first
time that the Canadian subsidiary exceeded 40,000 sales
in a year, continuing a trend
of 25 consecutive years of
growth. - ANC

the Richmond Hill head office

2014 Electric vehicle sub-brand

BMW i begins sales in Toronto,
Montreal and Vancouver.

2016 BMW Group Canada's
30th anniversary

If high-tech vehicles seem daunting, try owning a car wash
Uncooperative vehicles
drive up costs for
car-wash operators
By KELLY TAYLOR
WINNIPEG CORRESPONDENT

TECHNOLOGY IS WREAKING
havoc with operators of full-service car washes, with cars that
lock themselves and transmissions and parking brakes that
try to prevent stationary cars
from rolling while on pullthrough tracks.
Kyle Thompson, who manages one of three The Chamois car
washes in Winnipeg, Man., said
some of the issues with technology can be expensive for a
low-margin, high-volume business such as a car wash.
Ford and Lincoln models with electronic entry keypads will lock when hit by the
wash system's rotating brushes,
which creates a problem since
most customers must leave
their only key fob in the vehicle
- so staff can drive the car out
of the wash for hand drying -
and many don't remember their

If we could have a
sensor that the car
knows, 'Hey, I'm in a car
wash, I'm going to turn
off these features,' that
would be ideal.
Kyle Thompson

Manager
of The Chamois car wash
keypad codes.
"We have one or two a
week," he said.
"Usually, customers have a
problem trying to get the codes
from their dealers, so we often
have to call a tow truck to come
and do the jimmy-the-door
thing."
Certain Fiat Chrysler products - Jeep Grand Cherokee,
Dodge Charger, etc., with the
electronic transmission shifter - will automatically engage
park if in neutral when a car

wash employee opens the door.
Other cars will engage the parking brake if they sense the car is
rolling while in neutral.
"We usually have to put
someone inside the car through
the wash," said Dave Watson,
who owns the three The
Chamois locations.
"The labour is crazy."

TECHNICAL SOLUTIONS SOUGHT
Megan Clark, director of membership for the
International Carwash
Association, also pointed to
rain-sensing windshield wipers
that, if left in automatic, activate during a wash cycle.
"If they go off when someone's in the car, that's no problem, but if not, they can get
ripped off by the equipment,"
she said.
While the association is
working with carmakers to
build an education program for
car-wash operators, she said the
goal is a more permanent, technological solution.
"If we could have a sensor
that the car knows, 'Hey, I'm in
a car wash, I'm going to turn off
these features,' that would be
ideal." - ANC

Kyle Thompson manages a full-service car wash in Winnipeg,
Man., and says the amount of time spent dealing with cars
that lock themselves and won't roll in neutral is detrimental to
business. ( P H O T O : K E L LY TAY L O R )
http://www.bmw.ca
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Automotive News Canada - January 2017
