Automotive News Canada - October 2020 - v2 - 26

* O C T O B E R 2 0 20

Online-show plan moved up a year

TRANS-CANADA NEWS

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Toronto, told Automotive News
Canada.
The pandemic is also forcing
the Montreal International Auto
Show (MIAS) to replace its live
event with an online program,
while the Calgary auto show
cancelled its 2021 event. The status of the Vancouver auto show,
normally held in March, was
unknown as of press time.
Virtual auto shows will be a
major departure for the industry,
which has traditionally relied on
in-person events and sales.
But McClean said CIAS organizers began discussing a digital
platform after the 2019 CIAS, long
before the emergence of COVID19. The plan was for 2022, but the
timeline was accelerated after it
became clear that the 2021 show
could be in danger because of the
pandemic.
The CIAS explored using platforms similar to ones developed
for conferences and conventions
that have been forced online
this year, but organizers instead
hired a company to build a new
one focused on the user experience and re-creating the feel of an
in-person auto show.

ner with the McManes Group who has built his dealership to the number one Kia dealer in Alberta's
southern market.
Scott is a third-generation dealer who at age 34 is
the youngest ever to win the award. - Harry Pegg

JUST LIKE THE REAL THING?
The CIAS platform will feature a digital replica of the Metro
Toronto Convention Centre,
where the show normally takes
place. The public will be able
to virtually "walk" through the
show and click on the displays of
brands that interest them.
What the automakers' virtual booths look like will be up to
them, McClean said. They could
be digital versions of a physical
booth, with customers clicking
on a vehicle to learn more instead
of opening the door and sitting
inside as they would in person.
But whatever automakers
build must keep customers on
the virtual auto-show platform,
meaning their virtual "booth"
cannot simply be redirecting a
customer to their websites.
The platform will include virtual versions of mainstays such
as collections of exotic vehicles
and classic cars. And as users
virtually "move" from one part
of the show to another, they will
encounter digital avatars of people walking by them doing the
same.

2,000 JOURNALISTS
CIAS will also host its annual media day virtually, ahead
of the start of the consumer
show. According to a video
by the Trillium Automobile
Dealers Association, organizers expect between 1,500
to 2,000 registered media to
attend, in line with previous
years. The virtual media day
is expected to function much
like a regular one, with presentations by automakers
about their national or international vehicle reveals, followed by one-on-one interviews between executives
and journalists.

Rather than a drop-down menu of the brands found on a typical
website, the CIAS immersive experience will replicate the hallways of
the convention centre. P H O T O : C I A S

"We want to make sure it's as
realistic as possible," McClean
said.
Admission will be free, and
McClean expects 500,000 to one
million unique visitors to the digital show during its 10-day run
in February. By comparison,
the 2019 CIAS attracted 334,000
people. The online show will be
accessible online during the same
days and hours that it would have
been in person: 10:30 a.m. to 10
p.m., Feb. 12 through Feb. 21.

Organizers of the Montreal
show will also launch a free fiveday digital show in January.
"It would have been easy to
make the decision to just skip
a year, but we wanted to keep
this tradition going in January
despite the absence of the in-person event," MIAS President
Francois Boisvert said in a statement.

LIFE FOR LIVE SHOWS

While organizers think virtual shows can be effective in drawCOST SAVINGS
ing customers to participating
McClean said it would rely on
brands, the benefits will not be
"manufacturer inclusion fees"
known until the events are under
and sponsorships to generate rev- way.
enue in lieu of ticket sales.
Even as some automakers
He did not say how many
explore other ways to launch new
brands were expected to take part vehicles - using social media,
in the 2021 show, though orgafor example - live events have
nizers were having regremained important for
ular conversations with
many brands looking to
automakers about "the
connect with new cusvalue of the digital expetomers, and for dealers
rience."
who depend on leads to
He said, for instance,
generate sales.
that automakers could
Hyundai Canada
potentially have a much
CEO Don Romano said
larger audience than
it will be impossible to
they would at an in-perre-create the emotional
son event and they can
experience of walking
Romano: It's
save millions of dollars
through the show floor
impossible to
by not having to design, re-create an
with family or the abilbuild, transport, set up
ity to compare vehicles
in-person auto
and staff physical show
in person.
show online.
booths.
"It's not an art
"With cars,
"When you get some- it's a physical
exhibit where you can
body excited with your
go and it's very much
experience."
brand experience, there F I L E P H O T O
a visual experience,"
might be a lag time of 10
Romano said. "With
days or a few weeks before peocars, it's a physical experience."
ple decide they want to go see this
Traditional auto shows still
car," McClean said. "Well, from
play "a huge part" in the car-buya virtual platform, someone can
ing experience, said Tim Reuss,
leave from the comfort of their
CEO of the Canadian Automobile
living room or home office and go Dealers Association (CADA).
out and look at that vehicle, make He hopes, however, that digital
an appointment and depending
events can help dealers connect
on what the environment is go
with new customers.
right then and right there."
"You can take a lot of things
McClean said the virtual platonline, but at the end of the day,
form could allow company execit is still for most people the secutives to make pitches specific
ond most important purchase of
to the Canadian market for their
[a customer's] life."
vehicles. As a hypothetical examRomano predicted that the
ple, he said General Motors could
first physical auto show in
have an executive such as CEO
Canada after the pandemic would
Mary Barra explain to the market be "packed," though McClean
its plans for electrification and
was not so sure. It might take a
how that could benefit Canada.
while for customers to become
"In the past, there would be
comfortable with large events
scheduling conflicts and cost
again. That means CIAS plans
conflicts and all kinds of differto continue to offer a digital platent things and considerations,"
form in 2022 and beyond, even if
McClean said. "But now you can
there is a physical show.
prepare your content as a man"Who wants to roll the dice
ufacturer [to create] a whole
and gamble millions of dollars,"
new experience with consumers.
McClean said, "just to find out
That's what we're trying to get
that consumer behaviour just
them to understand."
isn't there yet?" - ANC

Guy Filiatrault, general manager at HGrégoire
Nissan Vimont (centre), accompanied by his team,
shows the Nissan Global Excellence Award that
puts the dealership in the top 10 per cent of Nissan
dealerships worldwide. P H O T O : N I S S A N V I M O N T

After-sales and service earn
dealerships global recognition
SAINT-EUSTACHE, QUE. - PART OF THE
HGrégoire group of automobile dealerships, Nissan
Vimont and Nissan Saint-Eustache have received
the Nissan Global Excellence Award. The distinction
recognizes outstanding customer service and
above-average sales growth.
It's the second such award for HGrégoire Nissan
Vimont, said John Hairabedian, president of the
HGrégoire Automotive Group, and the first for
Nissan Saint-Eustache, 40 kilometres west of downtown Montreal.
Awarded to just 131 dealerships around the world,
Nissan Canada uses four main criteria to determine
the winners: after-purchase customer service, aftersales customer service, sales growth and market
share increase.
Jonathan Cameron, general manager of Nissan
Saint-Eustache, said the award certifies the dealerships' ranking "in the top 10 per cent" of Nissan dealerships. - Benoit Charette

Quebec electric-truck maker
racks up sales from CN and Amazon
SAINT JEROME, QUE. - LION ELECTRIC CO. HAS
received an order for 50 of its Lion8T electric trucks
from the Canadian National Railway (CN).
The trucks - Lion's largest order to date - will
be used at CN's intermodal
terminals as part of its program to reduce carbon emissions. It is estimated they
would cut greenhouse-gas
emissions by 100 tons (90 metric tonnes) a year.
Lion also has an order
from Internet giant Amazon
CN's order for 50
electric trucks is Lion
for 10 Lion6 trucks, which
Electric Co.'s largest
the company plans to use in
order to date.
its "middle-mile" operations,
transporting goods within the PL IHOONT OE L: E C T R I C C O .
Amazon network.
Lion Electric's Quebec manufacturing plant has a
production capacity of 2,500 electric trucks per year.
The company plans to open a larger facility in the
United States to deal with growing demand there for
its trucks. - Steve Mertl

Partnership peppers Vancouver
Island with EV charging stations
VICTORIA - THE REGIONAL DISTRICT OF
Nanaimo is installing 28 electric-vehicle charging
stations, a project that partners 11 local and regional
Vancouver Island governments.
The program expands the current network
of Level 2 charging stations in the Nanaimo and
Parksville area on the east side of the island, as well
as several other mid-island communities, including
popular tourist destinations Tofino and Ucluelet on
the west side.
The work is being funded by about $230,000 from
the provincial government's CleanBC Communities
Fund and $275,000 from a green infrastructure fund
of the Canada Infrastructure program. Local governments will contribute about $183,000. - Steve Mertl
- ANC

Automotive News Canada - October 2020 - v2

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