Automotive News Canada - September 2021 - 13

* SEPTEMBER 2021
13
Provincial fires pile on to dealer woes
First the pandemic,
then vehicle
shortages and
then B.C. was
ablaze 'for much
of the summer'
By DENE MOORE
BRITISH COLUMBIA
CORRESPONDENT
AUTO RETAILERS AT THE
centre of the wildfires that
have raged across British
Columbia this year are battling
a " perfect storm " of challenges.
That
has magnified the difficulties
faced by retailers as a
result of the pandemic, problems
with the global supply
chain and a tight supply of
vehicles, said Blair Qualey,
president of the New Car
Dealers Association of British
Columbia.
" We seem to have a perfect
storm coming at us
right now, whether it
was the pandemic and
the related shortage of
semiconductors. Then
British Columbia was
on fire for much of the
summer. "
The dealerships
most affected by the
fires were those in the
Kelowna, Kamloops
and Merritt areas in
the interior, he said.
Statistics are
not yet available,
but Qualey expects
some impact on sales
in those regions.
Volumes were
already down about
20 per cent in British
Columbia and across
the country last year
due to the pandemic,
Qualey noted.
" A crazy number
of people were evacuated
or put on threat
of evacuation, " he
said. " All of that is
going to distract people,
understandably,
from regular life
activities, including
shopping for a vehicle
if [they] need one.
So I suspect that had
some slowdown. "
'JUST DEVASTATING'
The worst of the
fires burned the community
of Lytton, 275
kilometres northeast
of Vancouver. Ninety
per cent of the historic
community (pop'HARD
ON EVERYBODY'
WILDFIRE FACTS
* More than 1,580 wildfires
have raged across
British Columbia -
mostly affecting the
interior - since the
beginning of April.
* So far, B.C. wildfires
have consumed an area
covering 8,700 square
kilometres. For perspective,
the area of Prince
Edward Island is about
5,700 square kilometres.
* As of Sept. 13, there
were 205 active fires.
Source: British Columbia
Wildfire Service
The fires have also affected
Sentes Automotive employees,
Glutek said. Many are hosting
evacuees in their homes,
and some staff are themselves
evacuees.
I've ever come across, " Qualey
said.
Glutek: " We are
still finding that
we're making
sales, we're
meeting our
targets. We are
having people
just do business
a bit differently. "
PHOTO: LINKEDIN
Qualey: The
wildfires
in British
Columbia and
the resulting
evacuations
are " going to
distract people,
understandably,
from regular
life activities,
including
shopping for a
vehicle if [they]
need one. "
FILE PHOTO
ulation 250) burned, and two
people died.
" Clearly, it was just devastating
for a number of communities
in the province and
particularly in the interior of
B.C., " Qualey said.
Highway closures and
a provincial state of emergency
added to dealer woes.
" Fortunately, you know, car
dealers are the brightest,
smartest, most creative folks
Despite the challenges,
demand for new and used
vehicles as well
as repair services
remained strong at
Sentes Automotive,
which has six dealerships
in the
Okanagan Valley:
Lexus of Kelowna,
Kelowna MercedesBenz,
Kelowna
Infiniti-Nissan,
Vernon Nissan,
Penticton Honda and
Penticton Hyundai.
The heavy smoke
that settled over the
200-kilometre-long
valley for most of
the summer affected
walk-in traffic. The
region is a popular
tourist destination
and authorities asked
visitors to stay away,
said Jamie Glutek,
human resources
recruiter at Sentes.
" In terms of traffic
and numbers, it's
been really hard to
tell, but we are still
finding that we're
making sales, we're
meeting our targets.
We are having people
just do business a bit
differently. "
The company had
already instituted
home deliveries and
online sales due to
COVID-19. It boosted
its online presence,
and touchless
services helped it
cope with wildfires,
Glutek said.
" We wouldn't
see a major reduction in volume;
it's more of a reduction
in foot traffic, " she said. " We
are actually beating our 2019
[pre-pandemic] numbers. "
One side effect of the pandemic
is that people who normally
spend on travel are
instead buying big-ticket items
such as vehicles, Glutek said,
adding that low interest rates
and high trade-in values have
also helped sales.
" It has been hard on everybody.
Everybody's affected by
it in different ways. "
The fires prompted West
Auto Sales Group to launch
a wildfire relief drive. The
Coquitlam-based company
donated a portion of sales revenue
in July, and it offered 10
per cent off services, before
taxes, to members of the public
who brought in donations.
The group includes Kia West
Coquitlam, Downtown Kia in
Vancouver, Courtenay Kia and
Island Honda on Vancouver
Island, West K Auto in West
Kelowna and Cariboo Truck
and Auto Sales in Quesnel, 650
kilometres north of Vancouver.
The campaign ended with
$10,000 worth of supplies
delivered to an evacuee support
centre at the Tk'emlups
te Secwe pemc First Nations
community in Kamloops, 350
kilometres east of Vancouver,
said Jennifer Wendell, marketing
manager at West Auto.
The general manager of one
of the group's dealerships was
evacuated from his home in
Kelowna.
" We've all had someone we
know or someone within our
dealer group family that has
been affected, " Wendell said.
West Auto Sales
Group collected
$10,000 worth of
supplies in a wildfire
relief drive. It donated
a portion of sales
revenue in July and
offered 10 per cent off
services in exchange
for donations.
PHOTO:
KIAWEST.COM
" That's one of the reasons to
give back because it could be
our cousin, it could be our best
friend that we grew up with.
You just never know. "
Kelowna-area dealers started
a GoFundMe campaign
for the Red Cross Wildfire
Relief Fund for evacuees.
That prompted the New Car
Dealers Association of British
Columbia, the Motor Dealers'
Association of Alberta and the
Canadian Automobile Dealers
Association to get involved,
said Qualey of the New Car
Dealers Association.
With matching funds from
the federal government, he
estimated the efforts have
raised more than $100,000 so
far.
" We've been through fires
in British Columbia before, "
Qualey said. " Our neighbors
in Alberta have been through
that as well. They understand
quickly that it could be any
one of us at any time, so let's
lean in and help out. " - ANC
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Automotive News Canada - September 2021

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