Automotive News Canada - June 2020 - 6

* JUNE 2020

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Jeff McKague, owner of Toronto-based
Event Matrix, says his business is
"essentially shut down" due to the
novel coronavirus. P H O T O : E V E N T M AT R I X

Marketing events go from
full throttle to a dead stop
Support companies find
supplemental work as they await
return of ride-and-drive programs
By KELLY TAYLOR

WINNIPEG CORRESPONDENT

FOR 10 YEARS, JEFF McKAGUE HAS BUILT HIS
business, Event Matrix, into a nearly seven-figure
enterprise. But with the onset of COVID-19,
"Our business is essentially shut down."
"The only things we're working on are
trying to figure out what future events will
look like, trying to adapt, looking into the
crystal ball to see what our business is going to look
like."
Toronto-based Event Matrix is contracted by automakers to host media events, putting the country's
automotive writers behind the wheels of new cars.
The pandemic has cost the event industry an estimated $12 million in revenue since the shutdown
in early March, said Jud Buchanan, president of
Campbellville, Ont.-based Vehicle Dynamics Group
(VDG), a company that also runs media events and
conducts product training for dealers.
Such companies organize the driving activities,
sometimes at racetracks, off-road driving areas or
interesting highways and locales across Canada.
Events typically cost the car companies $250,000 to
$500,000, depending on the scope.

Jason Guttman, CEO of event company Integrated
Automotive, said his business pivoted quickly, offering technology for sanitizing cars and moving to
a contactless experience for lending press cars on
behalf of automakers. Although that kept the lights
on and most staff working, there were a few layoffs.
"When things shut down March 13, most businesses went to zero or close to zero," Guttman said. "As
we started to change very quickly, our outlook is a lot
more positive, and we've got capital reserves."
Integrated launched a subsidiary, Ride Clean, that
sanitizes vehicles.
For McKague, three events have been
scrubbed: two for automotive manufacturers and one for a tire client. His staff are
contract workers, so while he's not earning
revenue, he's not paying out salaries.

COVID-19

SOME COMPANIES PIVOTED
Buchanan's situation isn't as dire as McKague's
at Event Matrix, but the coronavirus has still hit his
company hard.
"We have some ongoing work with customers that
doesn't necessarily involve driving," Buchanan said.
"On the event side, we're pretty much shut down.
"I can't give you the financials, but I can say we're
down about 50 per cent on the year."
Still, Buchanan has been able to keep all five of his
employees on the payroll.

Jud Buchanan of Vehicle Dynamics Group is
optimistic that driving events will return because
being with the cars is essential to selling them.
PHOTO: VEHICLE DYNAMICS GROUP

EVENTUALLY, EVENTS AGAIN
As for when these events will resume, none of the
planners or automakers contacted by Automotive
News Canada expect anything until July at the earliest. One thing is clear: The events will return.
Toyota Canada spokesman Romaric Lartilleux
said they form the core of an automaker's marketing
strategy.
"It's crucial. Nobody can review
a car without touching it and feeling it, which means driving it."
According to the Automobile
Journalists Association of Canada,
which tracks events to help automakers avoid conflicts, the calendar
before the pandemic was full, with
events every week through to summer. Now there's just one event,
Marsaud:
planned for August.
Events will
Toyota Canada postponed two
return as
ride-and-drive events in June, for
there is no
the 2021 Lexus LC 500 convertible
replacement
and 2021 RAV4 Prime crossover.
for driving a
Each event would have included
vehicle.
12 to 24 writers. Lartilleux said he
PHOTO: NISSAN
expects to run events in smaller
groups, but over more days, to host the same number of participants. Ford, meanwhile, plans a June 25
online unveiling of the 2021 F-150.
Nissan Canada scrubbed a media event for the 2020
Sentra sedan and 2020 Qashqai crossover. Spokesman
Didier Marsaud said that although Nissan hosted
a couple of virtual media events, it is committed to
launching the 2021 Versa subcompact and 2021 Rogue
crossover in Canada this year.
"There is no substitute for an actual test drive,"
Marsaud said. "Driving a vehicle is a very sensory experience that can't be replaced, simulated or
re-created. This is the same for journalists as it is for
our customers. However, we won't compromise the
health and safety of anyone."
Buchanan of Vehicle Dynamics is optimistic.
"You can sell socks on the internet, but you can't
sell cars without people touching them, driving
them." - ANC

AAs Ontario,
SECOND
SHUTDOWN?
the country's home to auto assembly and parts pro-

duction, struggles with COVID-19, Premier Doug Ford has warned
he won't hesitate to revisit strict stay-at-home measures. The auto
industry has said that it can't afford another shutdown.

SALES
REBOUND
Sales forecastshave been dire since COVID-19 took hold. But dealer-

ships are open across the country, and the economy is slowly coming back to life. The question is whether automakers will continue to
up the incentives while people return to work.

FORD RESURRECTS A FAST PONY

The Mach 1 name is returning to the Ford lineup for 2021. The
Mustang model replaced the GT in 1969 and offered higher performance and better handling than
most other versions of the pony car.
Ford last offered a Mach 1 Mustang in
the 2003-04 model years, and the latest version is expected to spark new
interest as the current Mustang nears
the end of its product cycle. The auto- PHOTO: FORD
maker isn't saying much about the car,
except that it will be powered by a 5.0-litre V-8 engine and will be
"track ready."

GENESIS' FIRST UTILITY VEHICLE GETS A PRICE

The brand has priced its first crossover - the midsize GV80 that
goes on sale this summer - at $64,500,
including shipping, for the base model
with all-wheel drive and a turbocharged
four-cylinder engine. All-wheel drive is
standard on all four trims in Canada. A full
suite of driver-assistance and active-safeP H O TO : G E N E S I S
ty features are also standard. Genesis
Motors Canada is taking GV80 pre-orders via a refundable $1,000
deposit. Deliveries will begin in the fall.

PARTS MAKERS CAN GO BACK TO SCHOOL

The Automotive Parts Manufacturers' Association (APMA) and
CloudGRC Inc. have launched the APMA Institute of Automotive
Cybersecurity in response to company employees doing more
work from home during the COVID-19 pandemic. The APMA,
which represents hundreds of auto parts suppliers in Canada,
says working remotely and from home has increased the risk
of cyberattacks. The institute will offer free cyber assessments
to Canadian suppliers and take companies through the various
building blocks of cyber governance, such as organization structure, policies and procedures, threat assessments and remediation analysis, cybersecurity awareness, incident response and
cyber insurance.

ULTRA CRUISE TAKES IT TO THE STREETS

General Motors is developing a new version of Super Cruise driver-assist technology that isn't limited to highways, bringing handsfree-driving capability to city centres and neighbourhood streets.
The technology, internally called
Ultra Cruise, complements the
Super Cruise system, which works P H O TO : G E N E R A L MO TO R S
on more than 320,000 kilometres
of highways in Canada and the United States.

TESLA'S CANADIAN CONNECTION

The EV automaker in 2016 agreed to fund a group of scientists
at Dalhousie University in Halifax, led for the past 24 years by
Jeff Dahn, a pioneer in lithium ion battery development. The work
with Dahn's team is now playing a key role in Tesla's plans to
introduce a new low-cost, long-life battery in its Model 3 sedan in
China by early next year, Reuters reported in May. The goal is to
bring the cost of EVs in line with gasoline vehicles and allow EV
batteries to have second and third lives in the electric power grid.
Dahn started working on lithium batteries in the late 1970s as a
graduate student at the University of British Columbia; chemistries
developed by his Dalhousie team are used in one of 10 electric
vehicles today. - ANC

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Automotive News Canada - June 2020

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