Automotive News Canada - February 2017 - 20

* FEBRUARY 2017

DRIVING
IT HOME

New business models cater
to customer convenience,
often right where they live

Constomers can download
the company app to request
a mechanic to come to their
home.
"We noticed that in a lot
of other parts of the world,
like Australia and Europe, a
mobile mechanic was a big
thing," Ahmed says. "We
were looking into why it
wasn't done here before, and
I couldn't find a person who
executed it properly.

By STEPHANIE WALLCRAFT
TORONTO CORRESPONDENT

TODAY'S CONSUMERS ARE
increasingly pressed for time,
which is leading to the launch
of new companies modeled
around serving clients outside
the dealership.
Genesis Motors Canada,
the new luxury sub-brand
of Hyundai, launched in
November with a different
philosophy for doing business.
"We're all about luxury
that is relevant to the consumer, and we found in our studies that time is actually a luxury from a consumer perspective," says Michael Ricciuto,
director of Genesis Motors
Canada. "We decided to take
advantage of that."
While the brand will open
some bricks-and-mortar dealerships - about 30 over the
next five years, as well as
some pop-up boutique sales
locations in select malls
and downtown Toronto and
Montreal storefronts - the
hallmark of the badge is the
Genesis at Home concierge
service.
Genesis clients can request
services online and have
them brought directly to their
home or office, including taking test drives, completing
sales and scheduling service.
Product pricing is flat-rate,
which means that the base
price includes freight and tax
charges as well as complementary scheduled service and
navigation map updates for
the first five years or 100,000
kilometres of ownership.
Ricciuto says that consumer response has been positive.
"We had customers liter-

An instaMek mechanic works on a car at a
customer's home. ( P H O T O : I N S TA M E K )

CONTRACT COST SAVINGS
Hyundai's new luxury sub-brand - Genesis Motors Canada
- launched in November without a single bricks-and-mortar
dealership. Business is done by bringing the cars to the customers' homes. ( P H O T O : G E N E S I S )

ally the second day we started selling cars buying a car
online, sight unseen.
"We're closing almost 60
per cent of people who request
a test drive. And right now,
three-quarters of our sales are
conquests, so it's definitely
attracting people who really
value this type of service."
This transition was made
much easier because the
brand was new from the
ground up, and Ricciuto says
that the Genesis customer
model won't find its way into
the Hyundai brand for the
foreseeable future due to its
higher volumes and slimmer
profit margins.
"Never say never, because
you don't know how the
industry is going to evolve
over time," he said.

SERVICE-SIDE SOLUTION
A shift toward online-based
bookings and traveling to customers is also being attempt-

"We tried this new model
and realized that doing it this
way is actually a proper way
to grow the business. We started doing it and the customers
loved it because of the convenience factor. We've been
growing ever since."
The mechanics work for

instaMek on contract, which
removes the overhead of salaries and benefits on top of the
obvious cost savings in facilities and supplies.
Ahmed says that his customers tend to be young working professionals in their 30s
and 40s.
"They value their time the
most, and they're also open
to trying out a different service," he says. "Most of the
consumers who would come
to us would go to brand-name
shops, so they trust the big
names. They're just really
busy, and they love the fact
that our service is super reliable, comes almost the next
day because we have a larger
network of mechanics to pick
from, and it's a time-saver."
- ANC

Time is actually
a luxury from
a consumer
perspective.
MICHAEL RICCIUTO
Genesis Canada

ed on the service side of the
industry. Though the idea of
mechanics going door to door
is not new, Uzair Ahmed,
president and co-founder of
instaMek, believes that, by
using an Uber-like system to
connect mechanics with consumers, he has found a model
for the business that is sustainable.
Founded in January 2015
in Edmonton, instaMek now
also operates in Calgary,
Vancouver and Toronto.

Han Yi, co-founder and CEO of E1 Transit, with Tina Sandre,
owner of Midori Sushi Bar and Restaurant in Grand Bend,
Ont., (one of the communities served by E1) and Christopher
Misch, who is co-founder and chief sustainability officer for
E1 Transitt.

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Automotive News Canada - February 2017