Automotive News Canada - August 2017 - v2 - 14

* AUGUST 2017

Being the first Canadian to be named
Honda Canada president took some
getting used to for Jerry Chenkin.
"Even up to the time I retired, when
someone introduced me as the
president and CEO of Honda Canada,
I would look around for that guy."
(PHOTOS: HONDA)

JERRY

CHENKIN

The retired CEO of Honda Canada experienced numerous joys
since joining the company in 1975, but accounting wasn't one of them

By MICHAEL GOETZ

TORONTO CORRESPONDENT

"IN ENGLAND AT THE TIME, IF
you didn't know what to do, you
became an accountant," says retired
Honda Canada CEO Jerry Chenkin.
"Cars were my passion. Accounting
wasn't my passion ... While studying to
be an accountant, I would buy and sell
used cars to make ends meet and to pay
for the vehicles I just had to drive."
By the summer of 1975, Chenkin finished his accounting studies, got married and arrived in Canada.
In August, he was flipping through
a local newspaper in the newlyweds'
Toronto apartment, sitting on the floor
because they couldn't afford furniture,
when he saw an ad from Canadian
Honda Motor Limited.
"They were looking for an accounting supervisor. I thought, 'I like cars
and I'm an accountant. How cool would
it be to work for a car company?'"
He went to the interview and began
the next day, remaining until March 31
this year. Since 2013 he had been CEO
of Honda Canada, the first executive
not from Japan to hold the position.

MOTORCYCLES MORE THAN CARS
Chenkin soon realized he was working for a motorcycle company, not a
car company.
In 1975, Honda Canada sold about
80,000 motorcycles and about 4,000
cars, all first-generation Civics. "So I
learned the motorcycle business."
A few years later, Chenkin seemed
to be the one his Japanese bosses
turned to when they needed to sort out
problem areas. "When there was trouble, like in the credit department, I
was told to support them. I didn't know
credit, but it's still about numbers,

so I ran the credit department." He
was sent into similar "fix-it" roles in
finance, treasury and administration.
"For 10 years, it was never a dull
moment. Always something going on
and always learning."
Chenkin believes his rapport with
the Japan management centred on
his ability to speak English clearly
and slowly, and with a British accent.
"They could understand me."
At the 10-year mark, in 1985,
Chenkin made the pivotal move to
sales, when he was asked to run the
Ontario Zone Office.
"They must have thought, why the
hell is an accountant running the sales
operation for Ontario? I wondered the
same thing myself."
He quickly immersed himself in
all aspects of that side of the business,
especially dealer issues.
Three years later he was back at
the head office, taking on roles with
increasing responsibly in the rapidly
expanding company, including stints
running Acura (1994-2001) and the
motorcycle, ATV and power-equipment
division (2001-2004).
In 2007, he was named executive
vice-president of Honda Canada, the
second-in-command position.

FIRST 'LOCAL' PRESIDENT
Takashi Sekiguchi arrived from
another global post to become Honda
Canada president in 2010. After he
saw how well the company was run,
Sekiguchi would often remark to
Chenkin, "Why do we need a Japanese
president here?"
"I told him he was my 13th president, and didn't know if that was going
to be lucky for him or not."
When Sekiguchi was reassigned,
Chenkin was named as his successor,
becoming the first Canadian to hold

I told him he was my 13th president,
and I didn't know if that was going
to be lucky for him or not.
JERRY CHENKIN

Former Honda Canada CEO
the top position, and the first "local"
president in any of Honda's major markets.
No one explained to Chenkin why
the pattern was broken, but he has a
theory.
"If they were going to try to localize
one country with local management,
why not chose a country which is safe,
stable, and the sales growth is sustainable? You also have an associate here
[himself] with 38 years of experience
with the company. And you have a
very strong management team that had
been around for a long time to back
him up. Overall, it was just a massive
vote of confidence for the Canadian
operations of Honda."

LEAVING A LEGACY

One career highlight is being a part
of Honda's expanding and award-winning production facilities in Canada.
During his tenure as president,
Chenkin oversaw $1.3 billion of investment in the two plants in Alliston, Ont.
Unlike the presidents of most Canadian
automaker operations, Honda Canada
presidents also have overall responsibilities for the company's manufacturing operations in Canada. But Chenkin
notes the manufacturing side had,
and continues to have, "a very strong
team taking care of the factory," which

allowed him to spend "90 per cent" of
his time on sales and marketing.
Chenkin and his team established
Civic as Canada's most popular passenger car (19 years and counting). "We
never had a target like that, it just happened. There is no other country where
Civic has this reputation, where Civic
is Honda."
But Chenkin is most proud of the
structure he helped put in place to
enable the continuous and smooth
transition of top management.
"Creating an organizational structure
than can sustain itself was my main
focus [over] the last four years."
He recalls the town-hall meeting at Honda Canada HQ when he
announced his retirement. When he
announced that his successor would be
then second-in-command, and another
Canadian, David Gardiner, the groans
turned to cheers and a standing ovation.
"Everyone under Dave got promoted up one level, so we had the perfect
transition."

MANAGEMENT STABILITY KEY
Chenkin believes upper management stability is key in the Canadian
marketplace, to leverage the best of
both staff and dealer networks. He says
that dealers usually go into a "holding
pattern," until they get a sense of the
new president's priorities.
Considering his appetite to learn
and keep busy, it should be no surprise
to learn that Chenkin didn't stay fully
retired for very long. In May, he joined
the Dilawri Group of automotive dealerships in an advisory role. The nature
of the part-time position also allows
him some work-life flexibility, and to
stay of out of the group's day-to-day
operations, especially accounting.
- ANC

Acura's identity crisis in the 1990s haunts Chenkin to this day
JERRY CHENKIN'S
tenure as vice-present of the
Acura division from 1994 to
2001 was notable for both its
highs and lows.
Acura was struggling in
Canada as buyers were drawn
to the sporty Integra, but had
less interest in the luxury
Legend. This was when Acura
was trying to establish itself
as a luxury brand, and not
necessarily a sporty one. The

U.S. operations didn't have
this problem: "Americans
bought lots of Legends. So for
us, it was a big challenge to
get enough volume for our
dealers to survive," recalls
Chenkin.
The solution was to invent
the Acura EL, a luxury compact that was essentially a
rebadged Civic with extra
content. The U.S. arm didn't
want or need it, so it became

Former Honda Canada CEO
Jerry Chenkin said the Civicbased Acura EL saved the
Acura brand in Canada. "It
showed the commitment and
flexibility the company."
(PHOTO: ACURA)

a Canada-only vehicle. And
to top it off, it was built in
Canada at Honda's facilities in
Alliston, Ont.
"I don't think any other
company could have done
that. It was pretty neat. It
showed the commitment and
flexibility of the company ...
it turned out to be Acura's
Number One selling vehicle
[in Canada], and turned out to
be the saviour for the Acura

brand in Canada."
While Acura is better positioned as a luxury brand now,
those early launch days still
haunt Chenkin.
"Probably my biggest frustration when I was running
Acura for seven years was
that we never really, clearly defined what Acura stood
for. It's always been trying to
find its identity in the marketplace." - ANC

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