Automotive News Canada - May 2017 - v2 - 1

APRIL SALES: DOWN, BUT TECHNICALLY UP/P17

MAY 2017 | VOL. 2, NO. 5 | AUTOMOTIVENEWS.CA FOR BREAKING NEWS AND DIGITAL EDITION

Contest losers sue winner, and lose again
Dealer is 'shocked' to discover legal squabble
between finalists over $100,000 anniversary prize

By ERIC FREEDMAN
LEGAL CORRESPONDENT

A NOVA SCOTIA DEALER GROUP'S
$100,000 contest took an unexpected
turn from the showroom to the court-

room when disappointed finalists sued
the successful one.
Now the four losers have lost a
second time, and instead of getting
a chunk of the prize, they've been
ordered to pay the winner's legal bills.
On Jan. 17, the MacDonald Auto

Group of Halifax held a draw for a
$100,000 grand prize to celebrate the
company's 50th anniversary. It began
with a Nissan store and now also sells
Ford, FCA, Kia and Toyota vehicles.
The contestants had purchased a
vehicle in the previous year.
It was the dealer group's big-

SEE DEALER SHOCKED PAGE 23

DEALERS AND THEIR DIESELVEHICLE
DIESEL-VEHICLE CUSTOMERS

BATTERED, BRUISED,
BUT NOT BEATEN
RELATED
V
STORIES
VA N C O U V E R C O R R E S P O N D E N T

ACTIONS OF A FEW HURT MANY
"I believe that most Volkswagen customers recognize this
unfortunate diesel scandal was orchestrated by a select few
who are being prosecuted. All the dealer staff, majority of
corporate staff and factory workers who built these affected
TDI Volkswagens are truly innocent in all of this," said Onqa.
Romaniuk said his dealership's efforts are proving successful in retaining customers, many of whom have moved
into other Volkswagen products.

OWNER SAYS
SETTLEMENT DOESN'T
SEND A STRONG ENOUGH
MESSAGE; LAWYER SAYS
VAST MAJORITY
ARE SATISFIED

P18

TDI SALES BAN LIFTS;
BUYERS SNAP UP
LEFTOVER NEW
2015 MODELS

P19

SEE DEALERS PAGE 19

M-plates cut registration red tape
They transfer to whatever vehicles
need to be on the road for testing
or demonstration purposes
By JEREMY SINEK
TORONTO CORRESPONDENT

AS AUTOMAKERS AND THEIR SUPPLIERS
increasingly conduct engineering design and development in Canada, the province of Ontario has

AUTOCANADA

OFFENSIVE

Dealers still
picking up
the pieces
Flames miss,
but smoke
damage and
displaced
employees deal
a lasting blow

By STEVE MERTL

OLKSWAGEN DEALERS IN CANADA ARE
sweating the details to help eligible customers navigate the settlement process for their affected diesel
vehicles, in some cases by providing secondary bills of
sale for those who don't have their originals.
"We're doing everything we can," said Bryan Romaniuk,
sales manager at St. James Volkswagen in Winnipeg. "If they
need computer access, a scanner, advice, replacement bills of
sale, we're helping them."
Customers applying online for their settlement are asked
to provide a bill of sale and proof the vehicle was registered
during the settlement period, which began Sept. 18, 2015
- the day the scandal broke - and ran through Jan. 4, 2017.
About one-third of St. James Volkswagen customers are having difficulty providing the paperwork, Romaniuk said.
"We are providing whatever support requested to our customers," said Binny Onqa, general manager of Volkswagen
Downtown Toronto, who added that customers are not taking
out their frustrations on dealers.

SWEEPING LEADERSHIP
CHANGE/P6

introduced a Manufacturer Licence Plate program
to aid that trend.
Primarily intended to allow public-road testing of
prototypes and pre-production vehicles, the M-plates
are registered to the manufacturer and are not specific to the vehicle. Hence, they can be moved from
one vehicle to another without going through the
usual re-registration procedures.
The plates "exemplify Ontario's support of

SEE M-PLATE PAGE 23

FORT MAC FIRE

ONE
YEAR
LATER

By HARRY PEGG
CALGARY CORRESPONDENT

FORT McMURRAY,
Alta. - The fire that ravaged the gateway city to
Alberta's oilsands a year
ago claimed none of the
four automobile dealerships there, athough all
suffered smoke and ash
damage, and some lost
employees who moved
on after their homes
burned.
Northstar Ford
Lincoln, Summit GM,
Noral Toyota and Legacy
Dodge were all spared
by the fire dubbed The
Beast, which threatened
to consume the entire
city. However, all faced

daunting cleanups and
employee vacancies once
the flames were doused.
Only Northstar dealer principal Marty Giles
would give a figure on
the cleanup cost for
his $35.6-million operation that had opened in
February 2015.
"No buildings were
lost, but cleanup ran to
about $500,000 because
all locations had to be
completely cleaned,"
says Giles, who lost
his home and a Shelby
Mustang in the fire.

SEE FORT MAC PAGE 23

ECOSPORT

LATE TO
THE PARTY,
BUT FORD
CANADA IS
OK WITH THAT

P20

http://www.AUTOMOTIVENEWS.CA

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Automotive News Canada - May 2017 - v2