Automotive News Canada - July 2018 - 13

* JULY 2018

SHARNELLE
KAN

AARON
YOUNG

National social media
and marketing specialist
Dilawri Group of
Companies, Toronto

Director of retail finance,
RBC Automotive Finance

New digital tools will raise
the bar for RBC automotive
CHOSEN BECAUSE:
Aaron Young, 36, leads RBC Automotive Finance's team of West Coast
retail account managers, and oversees hundreds of dealer accounts and
billions of dollars in loans, all while still studying for a master of business
administration degree on the side.
After beginning his career at GMAC, now Ally Financial Inc., while
studying for his undergraduate degree, he arrived at RBC in 2011 and
quickly worked his way up at the bank. He leads his team as RBC invests
heavily in digital tools and artificial intelligence, technology that Young
said can greatly enhance the services the bank can offer to dealers.

IN HIS OWN WORDS:

www

Creating content that draws
eyeballs to social media
CHOSEN BECAUSE:
After graduating from Ryerson University in Toronto with a journalism degree, Sharnelle Kan worked as social communications planner for
Saatchi & Saatchi advertising in Toronto and as a social-media specialist for Bob's Your Uncle advertising agency in Toronto. She now develops
and executes social-media strategies for Dilawri, Canada's largest dealer
group. Her duties range from developing car reviews and how-to videos
for Dilawri's social-media channels, to creating paid social-media campaigns and providing monthly analytics and reports. Content creation,
she says, is critical to drawing an involved audience to social media. To
that end, Kan, 25, can be seen on YouTube in videos ranging from a test
drive of the 2018 Audi R8 Spyder V10 Plus, to a how-to on topping off the
engine oil in a car.

www

IN HER OWN WORDS:
"As automotive retail changes and the industry changes, social media
is going to be where a lot of our customers go to find information."

"The ability that we're going to have in the not-so-distant future to provide really granular analytics to our dealer partners to help them grow
their business is what I find really exciting. I think it will be next-to-impossible for any of our competitors to replicate and will really propel us to
a first-in-class position."

Canadian-born designer
leads Infiniti's future

The ghosts of VW's past
CHOSEN BECAUSE:

CHOSEN BECAUSE:

Daniel Weissland, 46, took over Volkswagen Canada in December after
leading its luxury unit, Audi Canada, since 2015. In his new role, perhaps
his most difficult task will be cleaning up Volkswagen's reputation in the
wake of the company's diesel-emissions scandal. In an interview with
Automotive
News Canada
earlier this year,
Weissland said
that making
sure that affected customers'
President and CEO
compensation is
of Volkswagen Canada
handled swiftly
will be crucial
to that effort, as
will marketing new Volkswagen products
effectively.

Karim Habib officially became Infiniti's
chief designer on July 1, 2017. One year
into the role and he's happy, inspired
and says he's poised to make a splash at
the 2019 North American International
Auto Show in Detroit in January. Based
in Japan, Habib, 48, said it's the people
around him and the overall aesthetic culture that keeps him surprised, inspired
and coming up with new ideas. Habib said
the vehicle Infiniti will unveil in Detroit
"is the best thing I've ever been part of."
He said it's "a strong new product and
strong idea that's good for the brand."
The vehicle is part of Infiniti's strategy
to have a fully electrified lineup. He said
that strategy and that process to redefine the brand are why he took the job.
Habib, a Lebanese-Canadian, studied engineering at McGill University in Montreal
before attending the Art Center College of
Design in Pasadena, Calif., prior to joining
BMW as an interior designer. In 2012, he
was named BMW's head of design.

DANIEL
WEISSLAND

www

IN HIS OWN WORDS:
"To me, it's already history and if you ask customers, it's already history. There are some who
still like to write about it
because it's a nice headline, but for us it's history. We deal with our
customers, make sure
they're happy and that
they stay with the
Volkswagen history, and the rest will
come."

KARIM
HABIB

Executive design director
of Infiniti Motor Co. Ltd.

www
IN HIS OWN WORDS:
"There are a lot of factors that make
it very difficult to point to where we're
going. I couldn't be happier to be in car
design at the time I am. It's full of opportunity."

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Automotive News Canada - July 2018