Automotive News Canada - December 2020 - v2 - 10

OPINION

10

12.20

Men, it's time
to have the talk
JEFF MELNYCHUK | EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
WHEN I TUNED IN TO WATCH THE TWO 45-MINUTE ONLINE
Automotive News Canada Leading Women Roundtable sessions, I
expected to hear the participants discuss the headway being made
regarding gender diversity, however slow.
But I wasn't expecting to hear the very first person, Maria Soklis of
Cox Canada (and now Brazil), state flat out that the gender problem in
the auto industry is growing instead of shrinking, and that there's data to
back it up.
Others in her session agreed, and then Hyundai Canada CEO Don
Romano weighed in - visibly distraught - saying that women won't
soon forget being objectified at car shows for the
last 100 years.
As the majority
" We have to come to grips with the fact that
gender in the auto we do not have a good reputation that entices
female applicants to come over to the car busiindustry, men can
ness, " he said in a story on Page 12.
help speed diversity
That's telling it like it is.
It should be common knowledge by now withby understanding
in the industry that the workforce needs to
the problems women reflect the population at large. And in terms of
automotive retail, it needs to reflect the diversity
face. And that
takes conversations of customers.
But from a Deloitte survey in conjunction with
with women.
sibling publication Automotive News (also on
Page 12), the biggest obstacle to getting more
women into the auto industry is a Catch-22: The majority (64 per cent)
of women surveyed don't consider the auto industry because they don't
see other women in the auto industry. Ergo, if it takes women in the auto
industry to attract women to the auto industry, then how do you bring
women into an industry with few women?
Not helping the situation is that " Lack of diversity, equity and inclusion " is a problem for only 22 per cent of men surveyed. And men, as
you're well aware, make up the vast majority of the auto-industry workforce.
My observation of the raw survey data boils down to this one oversimplification/generalization: Most women will never work in auto, and most
men don't care if they do. And for that reason, the auto industry will likely never be as great as it could be. How can it when half the population
is automatically writing itself off?
In assigning the stories for the Leading Women Roundtable on Pages
12-14, I had two lengthy discussions with reporter Stephanie Wallcraft. I
mostly deferred to her judgment because she's a woman and, well, who
better to understand and ask questions about the issues facing women.
It's because of her, Managing Editor Grace Macaluso and the panel
participants that, as a man, I even remotely have a clue what's going on
when it comes to the gender gap and its effects.
In my conversations with Stephanie, I bluntly admitted I was hesitant
to wade into a gender conversation because I didn't want to stick my
foot in my mouth and appear out of touch or chauvinistic. I was reminded at that very moment that learning and understanding would likely end
up with me eating shoe leather, but I shouldn't worry about that if I was
truly willing to listen and learn.
As the vast majority of people reading this column will undoubtedly be
men, I have a request of you: Please read the stories on Pages 12-14
and instead of filing them away, engage the women around you in conversation. Listen to what they say, take it to heart and stick your foot in
your mouth a few times trying to understand. At least we'll all learn
something about the problem.
In a male-dominated industry, it's up to us to act and not leave it up
to women to have to find their own way without help. Listen. Learn.
Be a mentor. Make it a New Year's resolution. - ANC

EST. 1925

PUBLISHED WEEKLY BY CRAIN COMMUNICATIONS, INC.
KEITH E. CRAIN, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
KC CRAIN, GROUP PUBLISHER
JASON STEIN, PUBLISHER

DAVE VERSICAL, CHIEF OF EDITORIAL OPERATIONS, AUTOMOTIVE NEWS GROUP

PUBLISHED MONTHLY BY CRAIN COMMUNICATIONS, INC.

NEWS DEPARTMENT

JEFF MELNYCHUK, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF, 506.854.5024, JMelnychuk@autonews.com
GRACE MACALUSO, MANAGING EDITOR, 226.787.0441, gmacaluso@crain.com

CUSTOMER SERVICE

877.812.1257
Email: customerservicecanada@autonews.com

AD SALES

Karen Rentschler, 313.446.6031
Email: Krentschler@crain.com

WRITE TO US

We invite letters from our readers for publication (250-word max., please indicate
" for publication " ). We reserve the right to edit all submissions for length, content and
clarity. Include your name, title, company name, city and province, and tell us
your connection to the auto industry. Email letters to gmacaluso@crain.com

If digital-only doesn't work,
do auto shows have a future?
HINDSIGHT IS 20/20 VISION, BUT THE ODDS
Canada reporter John Irwin interviewed Hyundai
were stacked against organizers as they attempted
Canada CEO Don Romano for his take on the virto stage the first-ever digital-only Canadian
tual show.
International AutoShow (CIAS).
Romano's response: It will be impossible to
The bold undertaking was conre-create the emotional expericeived in response to pandemence of walking through the show
ic-induced health and safety rules
floor with family or the ability to
MANAGING EDITOR
that upended the auto show circompare vehicles
GRACE
cuit across the globe. It was sold
in person.
as a way for automakers to reach
" It's not an art
MACALUSO
an even bigger audience at a
exhibit where you
much lower cost than the in-percan go and it's
son event held annually in
very much a visuCOMMENT
February at the Metro Toronto
al experience, "
Convention Centre.
he said. " With
For CIAS
David McClean, CIAS marketing director, esticars, it's a physical experience. "
mated the 10-day online run would draw 500,000
In mid-November, tepid exhibi- General
to one million unique visitors, compared with
tor interest forced CIAS organizers Manager
Jason
334,000 people who attended last year's show.
to scrap the online effort - a
Campbell,
Automakers, he added, would save millions by
move greeted with disappointnot having to design, build, transport, set up and
ment by some car companies and the
cancellation
staff physical booths.
dealers, who now face a year
of the online
Potential sales could flow almost immediately
without the razzle-dazzle of
from online visitors to dealerships, he said.
Canada's biggest consumer trade alternative
to the
" When you get
show.
auto show
excited with
And it prompted some industry " bodes
Too few automakers somebody
your brand experience
observers to wonder whether the
well " for the
[at a traditional show],
cancellation is yet another harbin- in-person
were lining up for
ger of the inevitable end of car
might be a lag
version.
a digital-only show. there
shows.
time of 10 days or a
We'll see.
CIAS General Manager Jason
few weeks before peoFILE PHOTO
ple decide they want to go see this car, " McClean
Campbell offered a positive outsaid. " From a virtual platform, someone can leave
look: " The enthusiasm to return to live events is
from the comfort of their living room or home
one that bodes well for us. "
office and go out and look at that vehicle. "
Perhaps. But a year without CIAS as well as its
But too few automakers were buying into the
regional counterparts means more automakers
hype. Indeed, industry skepticism was evident as
could learn to live without the traditional auto
far back as early fall when Automotive News
show. - ANC

EV sales hinge on rebates
IF, AS WE REPORTED ONLINE
in early December, Premier
Doug Ford's Ontario government
has no intentions of reintroducing electric-vehicle incentives it
scrapped shortly after forming a
majority government, then it's a
safe bet that Ontarians have no
real intentions of buying them.
The fact is this: EV sales simply follow the government
money.
Ford cancelled the program
in September 2018 and EV
sales in the province plummeted
almost immediately - down 55
per cent in just the first six
months of 2019. Numbers for
2020 are clear
as mud at the
Without
moment due
Ontario
to the pantoll
government demic's
on sales this
support, the year.
But the
EV market in
fact is sales
the province fell in Ontario
tanked.
when the
rebate, worth
up to $14,000 per qualified
electric vehicle, was removed.
A similar thing happened in
British Columbia when the provincial government dropped its
rebates in 2014 because the
program ran out of money. Sales
rose again when the program
was reintroduced a year later.
" To say that the only people
who buy electric cars are the
ones who would have bought

DIGITAL AND
MOBILE EDITOR

GREG
LAYSON

COMMENT
them anyway... that data [in
B.C. and Quebec] proves that
it's wrong and it's false, " Daniel
Breton, CEO of Electric Mobility
Canada, told my colleague Perry
Lefko for a story on our website
earlier in December.
So, it's obvious that rebates
- and maybe more - are still
needed to convince people to go
green.
" Boosting the adoption of
[zero-emission vehicles] in
Canada requires a combination
of financial incentives, accessible charging infrastructure and
more education about electric
vehicles, " Canadian Vehicle
Manufacturers' Association CEO
Brian Kingston told me.
Look no further than the
Liberal government's Fall
Economic Statement for more of
everything EV.
Finance Minister Chrystia
Freeland's plan includes $150
million for new recharging and
refuelling stations over three
years, beginning in 2021-22.
The Liberals also announced
in early December plans to add

$287 million in rebates to its
Incentives for the Zero-Emission
Vehicles Program, which was
introduced in May 2019 and is
set to expire in 2022.
The original $300 million provides rebates of up to $5,000
for consumers and $55,000 in
the form of a tax write-off for
small businesses that choose an
eligible green vehicle. More than
$255 million of that original
$300 million
had already
been claimed by
the end of
September
2020, which is
two years
before it was
Breton: It's
set to expire.
incorrect
When it
to assume
rebates
comes to EV
federal rebates, subsidize
Aaron Wudrick, consumers
federal director who would
of the Canadian have
purchased
Taxpayers
Federation, told EVs anyway.
FILE PHOTO
the Standing
Committee on Environment and
Sustainable Development in
November that the federal plan
was a " well-intentioned but ultimately wasteful program "
because it was being used by
consumers who are " fully prepared " to pay full price for them.
That doesn't appear to be
the case. If it was, EV sales
wouldn't have tanked in Ontario.

- ANC



Automotive News Canada - December 2020 - v2

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Automotive News Canada - December 2020 - v2

Automotive News Canada - December 2020 - v2 - Intro
Automotive News Canada - December 2020 - v2 - 1
Automotive News Canada - December 2020 - v2 - 2
Automotive News Canada - December 2020 - v2 - 3
Automotive News Canada - December 2020 - v2 - 4
Automotive News Canada - December 2020 - v2 - 5
Automotive News Canada - December 2020 - v2 - 6
Automotive News Canada - December 2020 - v2 - 7
Automotive News Canada - December 2020 - v2 - 8
Automotive News Canada - December 2020 - v2 - 9
Automotive News Canada - December 2020 - v2 - 10
Automotive News Canada - December 2020 - v2 - 11
Automotive News Canada - December 2020 - v2 - 12
Automotive News Canada - December 2020 - v2 - 13
Automotive News Canada - December 2020 - v2 - 14
Automotive News Canada - December 2020 - v2 - 15
Automotive News Canada - December 2020 - v2 - 16
Automotive News Canada - December 2020 - v2 - 17
Automotive News Canada - December 2020 - v2 - 18
Automotive News Canada - December 2020 - v2 - 19
Automotive News Canada - December 2020 - v2 - 20
Automotive News Canada - December 2020 - v2 - 21
Automotive News Canada - December 2020 - v2 - 22
Automotive News Canada - December 2020 - v2 - 23
Automotive News Canada - December 2020 - v2 - 24
Automotive News Canada - December 2020 - v2 - 25
Automotive News Canada - December 2020 - v2 - 26
Automotive News Canada - December 2020 - v2 - 27
Automotive News Canada - December 2020 - v2 - 28
Automotive News Canada - December 2020 - v2 - 29
Automotive News Canada - December 2020 - v2 - 30
Automotive News Canada - December 2020 - v2 - 31
Automotive News Canada - December 2020 - v2 - 32
Automotive News Canada - December 2020 - v2 - F1
Automotive News Canada - December 2020 - v2 - F2
Automotive News Canada - December 2020 - v2 - F3
Automotive News Canada - December 2020 - v2 - F4
Automotive News Canada - December 2020 - v2 - F5
Automotive News Canada - December 2020 - v2 - F6
Automotive News Canada - December 2020 - v2 - F7
Automotive News Canada - December 2020 - v2 - F8
Automotive News Canada - December 2020 - v2 - F9
Automotive News Canada - December 2020 - v2 - F10
Automotive News Canada - December 2020 - v2 - F11
Automotive News Canada - December 2020 - v2 - F12
Automotive News Canada - December 2020 - v2 - F13
Automotive News Canada - December 2020 - v2 - F14
Automotive News Canada - December 2020 - v2 - F15
Automotive News Canada - December 2020 - v2 - F16
Automotive News Canada - December 2020 - v2 - F17
Automotive News Canada - December 2020 - v2 - F18
Automotive News Canada - December 2020 - v2 - F19
Automotive News Canada - December 2020 - v2 - F20
Automotive News Canada - December 2020 - v2 - F21
Automotive News Canada - December 2020 - v2 - F22
Automotive News Canada - December 2020 - v2 - F23
Automotive News Canada - December 2020 - v2 - F24
Automotive News Canada - December 2020 - v2 - F25
Automotive News Canada - December 2020 - v2 - F26
Automotive News Canada - December 2020 - v2 - F27
Automotive News Canada - December 2020 - v2 - F28
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