Automotive News Canada - December 2017 - 1

FIXED-OPS FEATURE: PREVENTING PARTS-INVENTORY NIGHTMARES/P18

DECEMBER 2017 | VOL. 2, NO. 12 | AUTOMOTIVENEWS.CA FOR BREAKING NEWS AND DIGITAL EDITION

L.A.SHOW

AUTO Meet the first woman to lead Trillium
Susan Gubasta from Mississauga will push
education to erase stereotypes of dealership
By PERRY LEFKO

NEW
LAUNCHES
HEADED FOR CANADA/P13

TORONTO CORRESPONDENT

SHE HAS BEEN A PIONEER
in the Canadian automotive
industry for a while, but Susan
Gubasta is about to take it to
another level as the first woman

president in the 110-year history of the Trillium Automobile
Dealers Association.
Gubasta, who is the CEO of
Mississauga Toyota, will take
over from Larry Lantz of

SEE PEOPLE PAGE 20

The 2M NISSAN'S SALES
question TROOPERS

Susan Gubasta says she "never
felt like an outsider"
in the dealership world.
(PHOTO: PERRY LEFKO)

Dealers eager
for a sequel
to 2016's
'Rogue One'
promotion

What's lurking beneath the
chipper rhetoric of a record
sales year in Canada?
By JEREMY SINEK, MICHAEL GOETZ
and PERRY LEFKO
TORONTO CORRESPONDENTS

CANADA'S FIRST
two-million-unit sales
year appears to be a sure
thing. Industry experts,
however, say that record
won't be equaled soon.
"I think 2017 will
set the bar as the best
year ever for a number
of years," said Carlos
Gomes, senior economist at Scotia Capital.
"Officially, our forecast
doesn't see it repeating in
2018 or even 2019."
But, Gomes said, so
long as the economy
doesn't weaken, car sales
will remain relatively
strong.
A slight decline from
what almost surely will
be a record year in 2017
translates to a market
of around 1.85 million
to 1.95 million. Larry
Hutchinson, CEO of
Toyota Canada Inc., said
he can live with that.

Larry Hutchinson,
CEO of Toyota Canada
Inc.: Modest decline
is no problem. (FILE PHOTO)

SALES SURGE

Canada light-vehicle sales
for the past 10 years and
year-to-date

* 2017

1,914,551*

* 2016

1,953,137

* 2015

1,899,490

* 2014

1,853,241

* 2013

1,745,879

* 2012

1,677,862

* 2011

1,587,447

* 2010

1,558,472

* 2009

1,461,656

* 2008

1,637,889

* 2007

1,653,842

*Through 11 months
Source: Automotive News
Data Center

"Frankly, we can all
survive healthily at 1.85
million, or even 1.7 million," Hutchinson said.
"We're pretty comfortable with our forecast."
But according to forecasters, factors likely to
cause a decline in 2018
deserve close attention.
They include rising
interest rates and

SEE CRASH PAGE 21

By JOHN IRWIN

TORONTO BUREAU

NISSAN CAN'T SEEM TO GET
ENOUGH OF STAR WARS IN ITS
MARKETING, AND DEALERSHIPS
ARE HAPPY WITH THAT.

The automaker has partnered with Disney's
Lucasfilm Ltd. for the second straight year in
conjunction with the release of "Star Wars:
The Last Jedi."
Brendan Maslen, sales manager at Plaza
Nissan in Hamilton, Ont., said the Star Wars
campaigns have been a boon to his dealership
over the past two years. While he is unaware
of any customer coming into his store specifically to buy a vehicle because of Star Wars
marketing, he said it gives the brand cultural
credibility and makes sales workers excited to
show off their vehicles.
"There's a cool factor behind it," Maslen
said. "I like Star Wars and I think most of the
Nissan showed a Star Wars-inspired concept at
the recent Los Angeles Auto Show: A 2018 Nissan
Rogue transformed into a T-70 X-Wing fighter.
(PHOTO: NISSAN)

sales guys here follow it pretty religiously,
so I think they get excited about it and that
comes across when they're presenting the car
or going on a demo drive. It rubs off to a certain point."
The out-of-this-world marketing campaign
began last year in Canada and the United
States. That's when the Nissan Rogue was
vaulted into Star Wars' galactic hype machine
and basked in the spectacle surrounding the
fortuitously named "Rogue One: A Star Wars
Story" movie.
Nissan dealerships - many of which outfitted their stores with Rogue One decorations as
part of the automaker's marketing alignment

SEE STAR WARS PAGE 20
http://www.AUTOMOTIVENEWS.CA
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Automotive News Canada - December 2017
