Automotive News Canada - August 2017 - v2 - 6

* AUGUST 2017

Demand in Calgary warrants TRENDING
third Mercedes-Benz store STORIES
automotivenews.ca
Existing two
dealerships unable
to meet rising demand
for sales, service
By HARRY PEGG

CALGARY CORRESPONDENT

A NEW MERCEDES-BENZ
store has opened in Calgary,
bringing the number to three,
despite difficult-if-improving economic times in Alberta due to a
contracting oil industry.
The $35-million, 94,500-squarefoot (8,800-square-metre) Country
Hills Mercedes-Benz is the newest store in the McManes Auto
Group stable and the third
Mercedes-Benz dealership in the
city. The others are Lone Star
Mercedes-Benz and MercedesBenz Downtown Calgary.
Mercedes chose the McManes
Group in June 2013, said JoAnne
Caza, Mercedes-Benz director of communication and public relations. The store will be
McManes's eighth in the Calgary
area, a significant factor in winning the new franchise, she said.
"We had applicants from
across Canada representing all
major dealer groups," Caza said.
"We shortlisted eight applicants
and ultimately wanted a local
dealer committed and connected to his community, as well as
someone with solid experience.
"Jim McManes, president of
the McManes Group, was also
part of a joint dealer council
during the DaimlerChrysler era,
so he was known to us."
Built on an eight-acre
(three-hectare) site in northeast Calgary at the intersection of two major thoroughfares and close to Calgary
International Airport, the new
facility has a 22,000-square-foot
(2,000-square-metre) showroom
with three-metre-tall glass walls.
On opening day, there were 40
vehicles on the floor with room
for at least 10 more.

New facility has 31 service
bays, eight detail bays, a drivethrough wash bay, a three-lane
drive-in service reception area,
customer lounge and a deli.
(PHOTO: HARRY PEGG)

PERFORMANCE CENTRE
"We're one of the largest, if
not the largest, AMG performance centres in Canada," said
General Manager Colin Gingell.
There are currently 55 people on
staff including a dozen sales persons referred to as brand specialists.
Gingell, who comes to Calgary
after 11 years at Kelowna
Mercedes-Benz, in B.C., said
there are 130 new vehicles on
site with more on the way,
including "a great selection of
AMG product."
He said business has been
"good" since Day One, but he did
not provide figures.
Eighteen months under construction, the new store has 31
service bays, eight detail bays, a
drive-through wash bay, a three-

Despite the challenges
in the Calgary market,
both existing dealers
weathered the difficult
times quite well.
JOANNE CAZA

Merecedes-Benz Canada
spokeswoman

Glass walls rise more than three metres at Country Hills
Mercedes-Benz in northeast Calgary, the third Mercedes-Benz
dealership in the city. ( P H O T O : H A R R Y P E G G )

lane drive-in service reception
area, customer lounge, kids play
area and a deli that offers hot
and cold breakfast and lunch
items.
It is the group's 20th dealership and second Mercedes-Benz
store (the other is in Edmonton).
Caza said a third MercedesBenz outlet in Calgary makes
sense given the significant
expansion of the product lineup
over the last few years.
"There's no question that this
new dealership was needed to
handle this incremental volume
now and in the future.
"Despite the challenges in the
Calgary market, both existing
dealers weathered the difficult
times quite well. In fact, we were
very pleased with their performances in the last three years."
During the last half of 2014,
the barrel price of crude oil
plunged to less than US $50, from
a high of nearly $110, which dramatically affected employment
and discretionary spending in
oil-dependent Alberta. Oil prices
have fluctuated since, but nearly three years later, the price is
once again below US $50.

EXISTING DEALERS CONSULTED

Caza said there was a longterm consultation with the existing dealers that began when both
had exceeded their capacity for
sales and service.
"Both have space limitations
and cannot expand their sales
and/or service operations easily, and both recognized that
Mercedes-Benz sales would continue to grow in the future and
that there would be a dire need
for added sales and service
capacity. Therefore, the addition
of a third dealer was not a surprise at all."
In other markets where
Mercedes added another dealership, "all dealers experienced
overall incremental sales growth
while our customers had a much
better in-dealership customer
experience as a direct result."
As for Calgary, she said the
product lineup is "well positioned to service Calgary's growing and diversifying market.
"We invest for decades, not
just for today," Caza said. "We
are confident in our dealers' abilities and their high level of commitment to our brand ... and
count on continuing to gain market share." - ANC

FIRST TESLA MODEL 3 DELIVERED,
BUT CANADIAN PLANS UNKNOWN

Tesla has delivered its long-promised, affordable Model 3
small electric car to its first 30 customers - all employees - at
a company party, but its Canadian timeline remains unknown.
Tesla representatives
didn't respond to calls or
emails from Automotive
News Canada requesting information about
when the Model 3 will
arrive north of the border,
and the Associated Press ( P H O T O : T E S L A )
reports it could take years
to get the vehicle to all the people who want to buy it.
The automaker has been installing a fast-charging network,
coast to coast in Canada.
"Should finish trans-Canada this year," CEO Elon Musk said
of the network in a tweet published in May.
When it comes to the Model 3, Tesla's Canadian website
says only "local pricing will be announced in 2017" and that the
"delivery estimate for new reservations is mid-2018 or later."

INCENTIVES ON CARS CONTINUE TO RISE,
OUTPACING TRANSACTION PRICES

Desperate to sell Canadians more passenger cars, automakers continue to increase incentives on them, according to data
compiled by J.D. Power and Associates in Toronto.
Automakers' incentive spending on passenger cars increased
five per cent in the first half of the year while the average transaction price increased just 3.7 per cent. It's an opposite trend
regarding trucks. The average transaction price on pickups and
SUVs is up six per cent over last year, but incentive costs to the
automakers have barely moved, up just 0.3 per cent.
"So manufacturers clearly are struggling more with passenger car inventory," said Robert Karwel, a senior manager in data
house J.D. Power's automotive division. "SUVs and trucks have
lots of incentives, but they don't really need more to keep on
growing. There is appetite from consumers to own those vehicles."

INFINITI CANADA CONFIRMS QX70 UTILITY
VEHICLE HAS BEEN DROPPED

Infiniti has killed its QX70 utility vehicle, effective immediately,
as it prepares to shift more attention to other crossovers.
"Infiniti is preparing for
new and updated crossovers and sport-utility vehicles, including the all-new
QX50," Infiniti Canada
spokeswoman Jennifer
McCarthy said in an email
to Automotive News
Canada.
(PHOTO: INFINITI)
According to sources outside the company,
Infiniti wants to steer marketing and customer attention to the
new QX50, which it believes has the potential to become the
brand's top-seller.

THE 999,999TH PORSCHE 911 EVER MADE
WAS SOLD IN CANADA

The one millionth Porsche 911 that rolled off the line at the
automaker's Zuffenhausen, Germany, facility on May 11 won't be
coming to Canada as part of its
commemorative world tour, but the
999,999th 911 ever manufactured
was sold here.
The Guards Red 911
Targa 4 GTS that came down
Zuffenhausen production line, right
before the millionth car, was delivered to Pfaff Porsche in Vaughn,
Ont., just north of Toronto, the
( P H O T O : P FA F F P O R S C H E )
dealership said on its website.
Buyer Rob Tenuta received the car in a special ceremony, during which Porsche Cars Canada CEO Alexander Pollich
joined salesperson Alex Krigos to complete the transaction.

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