Automotive News Canada - August 2019 - 15

* AUGUST 2019

In a complex world, machine
learning is a no-brainer
CHOSEN BECAUSE:

'Startup' strategy powers
Quebec's HGregoire group
CHOSEN BECAUSE:
For others, it would be transformation. For John Hairabedian, whose father,
Greg, launched Canada's first used-car superstore in 2003, changing the nature of
auto retailing is tradition.
The younger Hairabedian's technology-driven sales strategy powers the Quebecbased HGregoire group, now encompassing 28 new- and used-vehicle stores across
eastern Canada and Florida. And it's growing.
"We see ourselves as an Internet company and
a startup that happens to be in automotive retail,"
said the 27-year-old Hairabedian, who was 23 when
he took over the family business in 2014.
From pricing logarithms developed by staff analysts, to an in-house remarketing division, HGregoire
President, HGregoire
closely controls every step of the business. And if
some of its approaches emerged elsewhere - no-haggle pricing and cars-by-subscription, for instance - its seamless integration of best practices and focus on removing "friction" in the car-buying process could be key strengths
in an industry in rapid evolution.

JOHN
HAIRABEDIAN

www

IN HIS OWN WORDS:

"One day I got a call from my father. He asked me if I was interested in joining
HGreg and if I wasn't, he would sell the family business. ... I thought about it for
half a minute. I knew I couldn't pass up an opportunity to work with my hero,
my dad."

A passion for numbers,
public policy... and cars
CHOSEN BECAUSE:
There was no easing into the job for the new economist of the Canadian
Automobile Dealers Association last October. First up for Oumar Dicko, 31, was
assessing the just-signed - and crucially important - United States-Mexico-Canada
Agreement. His verdict on the trade pact: Welcome certainty
for dealers and the auto sector. Next, a deep dive into Canada's
zero-emissions strategy and persuading the government to
expand the list of eligible vehicles.
But for a public-policy enthusiast who grew up with pictures of Ford Mustangs on his Montreal bedroom walls, the work is fascinating and
Economist, Canadian fun. "It was a great career move,"
Automobile Dealers says Dicko, who also serves as a
lieutenant in the Armed Forces
Association
Reserve.
His next priorities? Ensuring
that federal-election candidates understand the contribution of franchised dealerships to the economy, and
that dealers are reimbursed promptly for rebates under
the new federal vehicle-electrification program.

OUMAR
DICKO

IN HIS OWN WORDS:

www

"It provides me the best of both worlds
- being able to have my civilian life
and work as an economist for the
Canadian Automobile Dealers
Association, something that I am
passionate about, and at the same
time continue to serve [in the
Armed Forces Reserve] and give
back to Canada."

It wasn't that Greta Cutulenco, 28, came around to cars as much as
cars came around to her.
"I've always been more into computers and robotics," said the
co-founder and CEO of Acerta Analytics Solutions. "[But] nowadays, a
car almost feels like a big computer on wheels."
To ferret out problems, Acerta uses machine learning - artificial
intelligence, or AI - to identify anomalies in the data generated during
vehicle production. This allows clients of the Kitchener, Ont., firm,
including automakers and now a major North American axle
manufacturer, to make fixes early and avoid
PHOTO:
much higher costs later.
MICROSOFT
Cutulenco, a winner in Microsoft's
Female Founders Competition, says the
increasing complexity of cars makes AI a
necessity. "It's becoming overwhelming to
continue either using existing diagnostic
tools or to manually solve these issues."

www
IN HER OWN WORDS:
"As all of this transformation
and complexity is being introduced, I feel more of these types of
AI technologies will be necessary
for manufacturers to remain
competitive in the market."

GRETA
CUTULENCO

CEO, Acerta Analytics Solutions

Playing a big part in
Canada's parts industry
CHOSEN BECAUSE:
Jonathon Azzopardi, 40, has spent the past 20 years in manufacturing. The youngest boy of nine children followed in his father's footsteps
as head of Laval International, based in Tecumseh, Ont., just outside
Windsor. The manufacturer of composite parts, prototypes, molds and
engineering, which employs 60, is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year.
Azzopardi chairs the Canadian
Association of Mold Makers and
has emerged as a strong
voice for parts
makers, especially when it
CEO, Laval International
involves the
Canada-U.S.
trade relationship. He has spearheaded
trade missions to non-traditional markets, such as India, in a bid to diversify
Canadian suppliers' customer base.

JONATHON
AZZOPARDI
www

IN HIS OWN WORDS:

"Canada and specifically
southwestern Ontario is a unique
region when it comes to its wide
breadth of manufacturers. ... The
entire supply chain is covered from
raw materials to experts in AI
[artificial intelligence]. The opportunities and focus going forward
for the automotive sector should be
to harness advanced manufacturing
and flexible manufacturing to create our
own space within the automotive sector."

Automotive News Canada - August 2019

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