Automotive News Canada - March 2021-v2 - 22

Accepting bitcoin:
How risky is it?
CONTINUED FROM PA GE 3

Columbia government. Cryptocurrency's blockchain ledger system is supposed to allow easy tracing of transactions. But lax oversight on some crypto exchanges could allow criminals to hide their
identities and sources of their funds.
" Clearly, unless the dealers are ensuring they
know who the beneficial owner of the bitcoin is,
then this could be a great vehicle to launder some money, "
said retired RCMP officer Garry
Clement, who specialized in proceeds-of-crime and money-laundering investigations and is
now a private consultant based
in Osgoode, Ont., just south of
Ottawa.
Hairabedian said he's aware
of these money-laundering concerns and treats cryptocurrency deals as though they're cash
D'Argenio: Not
deals. As with cash purchases
affected by the
of $10,000 or more, HGregoire
volatility of the
reports cryptocurrency transbitcoin.
actions to the Financial
SUPPLIED PHOTO
Transactions and Reports
Analysis Centre of Canada (FINTRAC) and the
Internal Revenue Service in the United States.
" We've done all our due diligence as if someone
was paying cash, " Hairabedian said.
HGreg.com is also retaining 10 per cent of the
transaction proceeds in bitcoin, which Hairabedian
sees as a good asset for the company. This allows
it to pay customers for trades if they want their
money in cryptocurrency.
Interest in cryptocurrency transactions so far
skews young, D'Argenio said, and BMW-Mini
Laval is targeting the option at those buyers.
Not everyone is courting the cryptocurrency
buyer, though.
" We are not conducting any business using
cryptocurrency and have not had any interest ever
expressed by customers, " said Bill Harbottle, president of Jim Pattison Auto Group, which owns 28
stores across Western Canada. - ANC

Tai will be 'as tough
as her predecessor'
CONTINUED FROM PA GE 9

discussions among the three countries said
Canada and Mexico were waiting for Tai to be confirmed before raising the issue with the United
States.
The U.S. interpretation of the USMCA has not
" gone over too well with the other two countries, "
the source said. " And that's why I think they're
really hoping that the new administration, that
they could talk to them about this and hope they
can all get back on the same page. "

'AS TOUGH' AS LIGHTHIZER?
Tai would bring a wealth of experience to the
job and likely pursue a more cautious approach
to trade than her Trump-era predecessor, Robert
Lighthizer. But it remains unclear whether she
would veer far from the former administration's
protectionist view of North American trade rules
and other issues that have rankled Canadian auto
executives in recent months.
" She's going to be as tough as her predecessor, "
said Flavio Volpe, president of the Automotive
Parts Manufacturers' Association.
As of press time, the U.S. Senate had not confirmed Tai as trade representative, although a confirmation hearing was held Feb. 25. At least 50 senators would need to vote in favour of her confirmation, with Vice-President Kamala Harris serving as a potential tiebreaking vote. Democrats and
Republicans each hold 50 Senate seats. - ANC
- With files from Bloomberg

* MARCH 2021

Countering COVID-19
with communication
CADA dealer survey
finds brands that did
the best kept close
ties with retailers
By JOHN IRWIN

AUTOMOTIVE NEWS CANADA

ELIAS EL-ACHHAB WASN'T
shooting for YouTube stardom,
but the Kia Canada COO became
an avid user of the automaker's
Kia Canada COO Elias
online video channel to provide
El-Achhab took to YouTube to
regular updates to his dealer netcommunicate with the brand's
work during the harrowing early
dealers early in the pandemic,
days of the pandemic.
and " to make sure that we're
" That's not my specialty per
helping each other out. "
se, but that was a way to keep the
FILE PHOTO
lines of communication open. "
In addition, " emergency conversations " a few times a week
crisis. The brand communicated
with Kia's dealer advisory board
well with dealers, helped them to
were critical in helping retailers
secure personal protective equipnavigate the crisis.
ment and held off on delivering
" We wanted to know what
inventory, he said.
was truly going on, on the floor,
Subaru's approach to dealers
and we wanted to
was " done in a manhave those open,
ner that says, 'What
sometimes very
can we do to help you
tough conversaguys?' I couldn't ask
tions to make sure
for anything more, "
that we're helping
Digenis said.
each other out, "
As Subaru
El-Achhab said.
focused on its dealThe automaker
ers, Digenis concenalong with Subaru
trated on reaching
Canada were sinout to his customers.
gled out for excelWhen he temporarlence in their
ily closed the store
respective responslast March, he sent
es to the pandema video to every cusic by the Canadian
tomer that explained
Automobile Dealers
the decision.
Association
The video, which
TIM REUSS
(CADA). The honwas also posted on
ours, announced
the store's social
President, CADA
in February, were
media pages, was
a new addition to CADA's annuviewed a total of 60,000 times, he
al Dealer Satisfaction Index (DSI)
said.
survey. Kia was honoured in the
" I was really, really surprised
category for brands with dealat the amount of people that
er networks with more than 100
watched that and the outpouring
stores, while Subaru stood out
of support, "
among those with fewer than 100.
Digenis said.
Emergency
COMMUNICATION CRUCIAL
conversations with its
" The brands that tend to do
dealers gave
well are those that have open
Kia Canada
and transparent communication
insight into
and involve the dealers in the
how to pridecision-finding process itself, "
oritize their
said CADA President Tim Reuss.
needs and
" Whatever solutions you come
Digenis:
wants.
up with are going to be better
High praise
For exambecause you have more people
for Subaru's
working on the same problem
communications ple, El-Achhab
said, Kia
from different angles. "
efforts during
Communications between
the early days of asked vendors
to eliminate
the pandemic.
brands and dealers were strong
FILE PHOTO
monthly fees
across the board in 2020, accordfor its dealer
ing to the DSI survey, which drew
body. " We were quite successful "
participation from 75 per cent of
in doing so, he said.
CADA's 3,200 members. Eightyfour per cent of respondents were
SPEND, 'BUT DON'T OVERDO IT'
satisfied or very satisfied with
their brands' communications
Subaru and its 195-member
efforts, and 79 per cent said they
Canadian dealer network became
were content with the overall sup- more cost-conscious during the
port offered by automakers.
early days of the pandemic, said
Alex Digenis, dealer principal
Don Durst, Subaru Canada's
of Subaru of Niagara in Ontario,
senior vice-president of operasaid the automaker was " toptions and sales. He expects that to
shelf " during the early days of the continue.

The brands that
tend to do well are
those that have open
and transparent
communication and
involve the dealers in
the decision-finding
process itself.

" Spend what you need to spend
on, but don't overdo it, " Durst
said.
A year after it began to make
its presence felt in March 2020,
the COVID-19 pandemic continues to have a significant impact
on the auto industry and society
at large. A year ago at this time,
automotive manufacturing was
shut down in North America and
wouldn't reopen until May.
Meanwhile, dealers found
themselves in an unprecedented situation, as economic shutdowns, stay-at-home orders and
rising unemployment rates sent
sales plummeting.
Reuss, who would not comment on the
results of specific brands
but spoke generally about
the proprietary survey's
findings, said
the most successful brands
were able to
Durst: The
create finanpandemic
caused Subaru cial flexibility
for their dealCanada and
ers by working
its dealers
with vendors
to become
to reduce costs
more costand by providconscious.
ing relief on
FILE PHOTO
mortgage payments, among other actions.
" By and large, most manufacturers reacted very thoroughly and quickly to those things, "
he said, " but not every single
brand. "

PRACTICES BECOME PERMANENT
Many of Kia's early pandemic
communication protocols, including regular conversations with
dealers, became standard practice, El-Achhab said.
He said that contributed to
Kia's relative success in new-vehicle sales, which fell 5.5 per cent
in 2020 from 2019. That compares
with a 20-per-cent year-over-year
decline for the industry overall.
" Communication has to be the
good, the bad and the ugly, " he
said. " Thankfully, things turned
very good for us very quickly, so
the communications turned very
positive. "
Durst painted a similar picture
at Subaru, where sales declined
9.4 per cent from a year earlier,
also outpacing the industry.
He also credited Subaru's relative success to its marketing
strategy, which involved pulling
ads off the air early in the pandemic and replacing them with
spots thanking front-line workers.
Subaru Canada received many
positive comments about the campaign, including from its dealer
body, Durst said.
" We just felt as a company
that it just wasn't right to advertise deals when people were out of
work or furloughed, " he said. " I
think that made a huge difference
around people's perception of our
brand. " - ANC

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