Automotive News Canada - May 2017 - v2 - 8

OPINION

05.17

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Electricity costs aren't just hurting
industry, they're killing a museum

The Rogue is a popular nameplate in Canada, so why not
capitalize on all that brand recognition instead of using the
lesser-known Qashqai name? ( P H O T O : J E F F M E L N Y C H U K )

Canadians know Rogue
better than Qashqai
JEFF MELNYCHUK

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

NISSAN CANADA DESERVES CREDIT FOR NOT ONLY REALIZING
that this market and its buyers are different from the U.S. market
and its buyers, but for realizing that there are actually specific/
unique markets within Canada.
And the Qashqai. Nissan Canada can take credit for getting the
European Qashqai. It's a five-passenger compact utility vehicle
that's smaller than the Rogue, but doesn't feel small. The base
manual-transmission, front-wheel-drive model - unique to
Canada, I might add - starts at $20,000, which is outstanding
value. It's also a pretty piece of eye candy.
Nissan Canada jumped through some hoops to get the manual-transmission model, saying that it would
likely go over well in Quebec. Connect the
dots, and it's a market that the company
should be familiar with. The chairman is
Christian Meunier, who began his Nissan
career in Europe. Nissan Canada's current
president is Joni Paiva, who has vast experience with Renault in France. And Nissan
Canada communications manager Didier
Marsaud is also from France.
Marsaud says the European Qashqai name was retained
because Canadians associate with vehicles driven in Europe. If
that's indeed the case, then why is Nissan currently running ads
explaining how to pronounce Qashqai? By the way, it's "Cash-kye,"
not "Kwash-kway."
Now I have to admit, I've been a Canadian for more than 50
years, and I've traveled around Europe. But, I have zero affinity for
the Qashqai name, let alone any recollection of ever seeing it.
Rogue Sport? Now that's something I understand. That's the
Qashqai's name in the United States. So, why not call it Rogue
Sport here? Because that would make complete sense. The Rogue
is a hugely popular model in Canada and we can pronounce it
without a speech coach. Canadians watch a lot of American TV,
which means when we tune in to NFL games and cooking and renovation shows, Nissan Canada would get free Rogue Sport exposure from any Nissan USA advertising. Instead, Canadians will only
find out about Qashqai where there's Canadian programming.
Nissan deserves credit for many things, but I can't help but
think in its brilliance to define the Canadian market as several
unique markets within a market, that it is stubbornly missing the
big picture. - ANC

Even if there's
a connection to
Qashqai, the Rogue
name has more
recognition here.

EST. 1925.

PUBLISHED WEEKLY BY CRAIN COMMUNICATIONS, INC.
KEITH E. CRAIN, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
K.C. CRAIN, GROUP PUBLISHER
JASON STEIN, PUBLISHER
DAVE VERSICAL, DIRECTOR OF EDITORIAL OPERATIONS, AUTOMOTIVE NEWS GROUP

PUBLISHED MONTHLY BY CRAIN COMMUNICATIONS, INC.

NEWS DEPARTMENT
JEFF MELNYCHUK, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF, 506.854.5024, JMelnychuk@autonews.com
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THERE'S AN AUTOMOTIVE
museum in southwestern
Ontario struggling to keep the
lights on due to skyrocketing
electricity costs.
Volunteers who maintain the
Canadian Transportation
Museum at Heritage Village in
Kingsville fear they might soon
have to close because they
can't afford electricity bills to
the tune of $5,400 a month.
Details of their situation are on
Page 30 of this issue.
The museum is nestled in a
woodlot, 25 minutes from the
heart of Windsor, long known
as the Auto Capital of Canada.
It has a 1950s-themed diner. It
hosts weddings. And it is home
to some truly unique Canadian
pieces, including one of the
first game-changing Dodge
Caravans to roll off the line at
Chrysler's Windsor assembly
plant and one of the last V-6
engines built by Ford in
Windsor.
But this isn't an ad for the
museum. It's a plea for someone to save it, before it's too
late.
We're racing closer to the
mass electrification of the automobile. Before we know it, a
generation of kids who will
never have to "fill 'er up" will
be born. They'll be as fascinated by the gas-powered cars of
today that might eventually be
displayed at the museum, as I

DIGITAL AND
MOBILE EDITOR
AUTOMOTIVE
NEWS CANADA

GREG
LAYSON

COMMENT
am by the horse-drawn carriage
and early combustion engines
currently there.
One would think with such a
deeply rooted auto presence in
Windsor, an automaker or parts
manufacturer would have, by
now, come to the rescue by
donating funds to help the
quaint museum.
There are five major automakers assembling vehicles in
Ontario. Honda, Toyota, FCA,

The Canadian Transportation
Museum, which houses
some of the earliest internal-combustion vehicles,
could be be crushed by
$5,400 monthly electric bills.

Ford and General Motors
employ thousands. And for
that, the government and the
local economy are thankful.
Unifor, the union that represents nearly 24,000 people
in the auto sector, is also grateful for the automakers'
high-paying presence.
Two of those automakers
received some serious government assistance in 2017.
Honda got a combined $83.6
million from the federal and
Ontario governments in
January. Ford got $204.8 million from the two governments
in March. That's money that
doesn't have to be repaid.
But so far, none of the five
automakers operating in
Ontario, the union that represents thousands of their
workers or either government
has publicly come forward to
offer the museum assistance,
and that's a shame. Credit
where credit is due, of course;
in 2015 FCA donated
$10,000.
"We've been a part of the
Windsor/Essex community since
1925 and the CTMHV celebrates the region's rich heritage, automotive and beyond,"
FCA Canada CEO Reid Bigland
said at the time.
Hopefully, someone else
steps forward - and soon -
to help keep the lights on.

- ANC

Who should pay for pothole damage?
Easy, the potholes' owners: government
POTHOLES ARE A FACT OF LIFE FOR CANADIANS.
faced an estimated $1 billion in pothole-related
New ones appear each spring like dandelions and
damage to their vehicles each year.
the old ones just get bigger.
One in four of those surveyed said they had hit
But would we take them for granted if we
a pothole hard enough to require damage repair
knew what the real cost is to our wallets?
in the last five years at an average cost of $360.
A hard hit can damage wheels
Manitoba Public Insurance
and tires, as well as steering and
does track pothole claims.
suspension components, or simSpokesman Brian Smiley said
VANCOUVER
ply knock the steering out of
the Crown auto insurer receives
CORRESPONDENT
alignment.
about 600 claims a year at an
I set out to write a story on
average cost of about $2,100.
STEVE MERTL
pothole-related vehicle damage
That likely doesn't tell the
for Automotive News Canada but
whole story. How many drivers
discovered there's little informaavoid filing claims for fear the
COMMENT
tion to help measure the scope
insurer will conclude they could
of the problem.
have avoided the pothole?
There's nothing in the way of aggregated
"They could be found at fault and receive five
national data. Statistics Canada suggested I
demerits," said Smiley. "It depends on the circheck with provincial and municipal governments.
cumstances."
Some cities, such as Toronto, handle their own
Manitoba dealers I canvassed said they roudamage claims.
tinely see pothole-damaged vehicles needing new
The Insurance Bureau of Canada does not
wheels, tires and $120 alignments. Steve
track pothole damage specifically, folding it into
Chipman, dealer principal for Birchwood
general comprehensive claims.
Automotive Group in Winnipeg, said the 50 advis"I wish I had the data," Steve Kee, the
ers at his 17 service departments each see an
bureau's director of media and digital communiaverage of one pothole-related repair per day.
cation told me.
Beyond immediate damage, dealers pointed
Kee pointed out most pothole-related claims
out regular travel over potholed and frost-heaved
would probably fall below a policy's deductible
pavement prematurely wears out things like bushportion.
ings and ball joints, adding to vehicle operating
"It may be hard to quantify the actual damcost.
age," he said.
Potholes may be as inevitable as dandelions
The only big round number I could come up
but it's time to get a better handle on their hidwith was essentially an educated guess: The
den overall cost to auto owners, if only to spur
result of an April 2016 survey by the Canadian
governments to do a better job of road mainteAutomobile Association. The poll found Canadians
nance. - ANC

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