Automotive News Canada - July 2018 - 15

* JULY 2018

GM's talent search for engineers begins with talent
CHOSEN BECAUSE:

MATT GRAY

Director of business operations,
automotive finance
Bank of Montreal

Money matters
earlier in the
buying process

Brian Tossan, 43, leads GM Canada's team of
engineers researching autonomous driving, connectivity and a host of other
technologies that are
transforming the automaker's products. GM,
seeking to take advantage of research in artificial intelligence led by
Canadian universities,
has invested heavily in
Canadian research and
development in recent
years, including opening a new software engineering campus in Markham, Ont. If GM follows
through with its plans, Tossan could lead about
1,000 engineers in Canada within a few years.
Tossan worked in a variety of roles with
General Motors beginning in 2000, including man-

ager of GM Canada's Customer Care Centre. He
has a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering from the
University of
Toronto, a master's degree in
engineering
Canadian Technical Centre director
from Purdue
of General Motors of Canada
University,
and a master
of business administration degree from Indiana
University.

BRIAN TOSSAN

IN HIS OWN WORDS:

www

"There's a significant amount of value here in
Canada when it comes to research and development. A lot of the talent base that we're looking for
is right here in Canada, and I continue to see that to
intensify and grow."

EMPOWERING
CANADIANS

CHOSEN BECAUSE:

Matt Gray, 34, has national responsibility for the Bank
of Montreal's underwriting,
funding and customer-service
teams. Gray got a taste of automotive during a brief stint at
Scotiabank before landing at
BMO, where an auto opportunity came up and he immediately volunteered for the position.
He and his team are
focused on educating newcar buyers about financial
options and terms earlier in
the buying process. Gray, who
is originally from Calgary
and went to high school in the
United Kingdom because his
father took a job there in the
oil industry, got his undergraduate degree at Acadia
University in Wolfville, N.S.
He then worked three years
in consultant management
at Deloitte. After a stop at
Scotiabank, he got his master's at the Ivey Business
School at Western University
in London, Ont.

www
IN HIS OWN WORDS:
"Today, it's typically an
afterthought in the stages of
buying a vehicle. We're working on getting closer to that
customer earlier in that lifecycle. What hasn't happened
yet in the industry, and we're
starting to see signs of it
changing, is that transparency related to 'Did I make the
right financial decision on
how I financed that vehicle?'
especially related to extended terms and negative equity.
I think on the financing side,
we definitely see a trend coming of more financial transparency."

INFINITI is proud of its heritage and future here in
Canada, led by Canadian success stories like Karim
Habib, Executive Design Director of INFINITI Motor
Company, and Adam Paterson, Managing Director of
INFINITI Canada. Their stories are proof of how
INFINITI empowers the drive of Canadians and
people around the world.

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