Automotive News Canada - August 2017 - 23

* AUGUST 2017

Experts wade in on mobility
and autonomous vehicles
CONTINUED FROM PA GE 1

be those that are ready, willing and able to embrace technology and to make it work to
their advantage."

than ever. But what about the
next 50 years when Canada's
200th birthday
comes around?
To get a feel
for where the
industry is headCANADA
ing, Automotive
News Canada
surveyed auto
industry insiders
for their take on
the next 50.
And because 50 years is
quite a futuristic leap, they
were also asked for their take
on developments we should
see in the nearer term.

THE LONGER LOOK "As we move
beyond 10 years, the word is
'mobility.' [Automakers] by
then will have determined
what they want to be, which
may not be the same as what
they are today. The result is
that there will be more partnerships, alliances and mergers, some traditional and others not. This means there will
be different sets of players
leading our industry and they
may not be automotive in the
traditional sense."

BRAD ROME

JOSH BLOOM

150

President, Canadian Black Book

THE SHORTER LOOK "Tightening

standards for tailpipe emissions, and potential outright bans
of fossil fuels in
some markets,
will trigger many
more [zero-emission vehicles]
brought to market. ZEVs won't be a niche
product; they will soon be the
product."

THE LONGER LOOK "With fewer
private owners, those who
build, sell and buy vehicles
are expected to be quite different in the future."

MIKI VELEMIROVICH
Project director,
Mercedes me connect

THE SHORTER LOOK "The connect-

ed-car capabilities will grow,
creating seamless integration
between the car and our lives,
thereby having a large positive impact on our productivity. We will see new levels of
autonomous capabilities, paving the path to fully autonomous ecosystems."

THE LONGER LOOK "Connectivity

and data will become the
backbone of our lives.
Continued advancements in
electric car technology will
provide us with the practical
usability we have been dreaming of. Fully autonomous cars
will completely rewrite the
role of the car, while shared
services incorporating the
aforementioned technologies
will redesign the concept of
mobility."

JOHN WHITE

President, Canadian Automobile
Dealers Association

THE SHORTER LOOK "In my assess-

ment, the biggest challenge
facing our industry over the next
10 years is technology: from EVs
to autonomous
cars, to being
connected with
the customer.
Complicating this is government getting more involved in
regulating all things, especially customer relationships and
technology. The winners will

President, Automotive Practice,
Facebook Canada

THE SHORTER LOOK "The shift to

mobile has happened. It's not
social, it's mobile. Consumers
expect to find what they want
when they want it on their
mobile device."

DON ROMANO

TRANS-CANADA NEWS 5,000 KILOMETRES OF STORIES
CONTINUED FROM PA GE 3

Interprovincial interests
back new JLR store

the city will add 400 new EV
charging points this year,
and will have more than
1,000 by 2020.

CALGARY - JAGUAR
Land Rover Canada has chosen a partnership of Alberta
and Saskatchewan interests
to operate a new dealership.
Paul Valentine of Calgary
and Vaughn Wyant of
Saskatoon, Sask., got the nod
over a half dozen other interested parties for the new
store in northwest Calgary.
Valentine runs a Volvo
dealer in Calgary while
Wyant has two JLR dealerships, in Saskatoon and
Kelowna, B.C. The Wyant
group also has seven other
dealerships in Saskatchewan
and five in B.C. The new
store will open in early 2019.
Valentine said he has
known his new partner for
years. "Vaughn has been
looking for an opportunity to
enter the Calgary market for
a long time." - ANC

Buy a Mazda MX-5,
get a CX-5 for winter
MASCOUCHE, QUE. -
Albi Mazda Mascouche held
a Grand Prix of Canadainspired event in July,
which it intends to repeat
in coming years. More than
3,000 guests were invited to
the dealership near highway
640. The evening featured a
sushi bar, champagne, jazz
music and a DJ.
Denis Leclerc, Albi le
Geant president, took the
opportunity to unveil an
ambitious promotion to
highlight the event: "Over
the next 30 days, we will
offer free of charge to those
who purchase an MX-5

Louise Villeneuve,
vice-president of Albi
Mazda, and Denis Leclerc,
president of Albi Mazda,
announce a new promotion: Buy a Mazda MX-5
and get a CX-5 to drive in
winter for three years.
(PHOTO: BENOIT CHARETTE)

[roadster], the Mazda CX-5
[CUV] for the winter months
[November to April], for the
next three years."

Grocery-store customer service adapted to dealership

President, Hyundai Canada

CONTINUED FROM PA GE 3

THE SHORTER LOOK "Automobiles

Racicot had two priorities for Chambly
Honda. The first was to address dealership
opening hours. "For me it was nonsense that
dealers were closed on the weekend." Most people's free time "is over the weekend; grocery
stores had been open weekends for 20 years."
His second preoccupation was to give clients
more choice in their buying experience, hence
the new online experience. "We chose to offer a
platform to facilitate the purchasing process for
our customers.

will continue to integrate into
every aspect of our digital
lives. Our automobiles will become
more and more
personal as we
connect more and
more activities. It
is unlikely, therefore, that we will
see ride-sharing impact the
overall demand for personal
automobile ownership."

"We don't expect people to do the full transaction online right off the bat. Up to now, we
have had people taking information online and
finishing the transaction at the dealership. We
also have people that gave a $250 deposit online,
calculated the monthly payment and came to
the dealership at the end of that process.
"We made that service anticipating the millennium generation, born in the virtual world,
will be the ones using this platform the most,"
said Racicot.
"They're the ones I had in mind when we
created the platform."- ANC

MICHAEL ROBINET

Managing director, IHS Markit
Automotive Advisory Practice

THE SHORTER LOOK "The supply

base is currently structured
to serve an industry centred on the internal-combustion engine and its systems.
Electric motors, batteries,
sensors and systems, software
and communications will
become the focal point, away
from today's more disparate
systems, such as powertrain,
exhaust, steering, suspension,
braking, driveline and thermal.

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THE LONGER LOOK "We're shifting
to a mobility industry. Every
level will be impacted by the
combination of new competitors and new business models."

PAUL DEUTSCHMAN
Deutschman Design Inc.

THE LONGER LOOK "Driverless
cars will become the norm.
But unless human-driven cars
are purged from
our roads, automobile design will
evolve rather than
revolutionize. Car
design will revolutionize only when
the human factor is removed
from the driving process. Car
ownership will shift towards
pay-per-use services." - ANC

www.LACLtd.ca

Professional, independent, financial advice to
Canadian dealerships for 25+ years
Michael Lewicki, CPA, CA
mlewicki@LACLtd.ca
(647) 223Ͳ3855

http://www.LACLtd.ca

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