Automotive News Canada - December 2021 - 17

* DECEMBER 2021
17
2021ALL-STARS
CREATIVE RETAIL REVENUE STREAM
ART ANGIELSKI
GENERAL MANAGER, SHERWOOD PARK TOYOTA
rt Angielski, 51, has led Sherwood Park Toyota,
founded in 2007, into the top tier of Toyota dealerships
in Canada, but now he is a pioneer in
another field, online parts sales out of his store, located
near Edmonton.
" We're taking e-commerce to another level, " he
said. His online store is a model for others, with
search engine optimization driving traffic, phoTHE
GROUND FLOOR
OF A BATTERY INDUSTRY
TRENT MELL
CEO, ELECTRA BATTERY
MATERIALS CORP.
n a province where many are
talking about building an electric-vehicle
battery supply chain,
Electra Battery Materials Corp.
CEO Trent Mell is taking action to
make that a reality.
The mining company locked
in the financing
to recommission
and expand
its refinery in
Northern Ontario
this fall, and
with construction
now under
way, is poised to
become the sole
North American
producer of battery-grade
cobalt
by the end of 2022.
Electra Battery Materials,
recently rebranded from First
Cobalt Corp. to reflect its wider
ambitions, does not plan to stop
there.
At its site in Cobalt, Ont., the
company plans to build a battery
materials park that would process
cobalt, nickel and other key minerals
into material for use in battery
cathodes. The integrated operation,
said Mell, would reduce costs, make
use of locally produced resources
and centralize several of the key
value-added steps in the battery
production process in Ontario.
There are still obstacles to clear,
including lining up about $500 million
for the project, but with a head
start on permitting and a location
within striking distance of North
America's auto heartland, Mell,
51, is positioning his company to
answer booming demand for battery
materials.
I
BACKING SMALL
BUSINESS
DAVID KLAN
CEO, MAZDA CANADA
utomakers and
their dealer networks
are known
for their philanthropic
efforts, often supporting
charitable causes.
Mazda Canada CEO
David Klan recently
launched a campaign
that strikes at the economic
heart of communities.
In November, Mazda
Canada pledged to donate about
$1 million to help local small
businesses hurt by the pandemic.
Mazda kicked off the campaign
by inviting the public
A
A
tographs showing every part
and videos explaining installation.
The e-commerce portal
adds about $50,000 to $60,000
each month to his parts department
sales. He sells TRD (Toyota
Racing Development) parts into
the United States and, surprisingly,
Toyota RAV4 cargo covers as
far away as Ontario.
" They're $170, and we're selling
them out of province. We sell
one every couple of days. I'm
pretty sure Ontario has Toyota
dealerships. "
to nominate Local Legends -
beloved small businesses that
were struggling and worthy of
a grant. The campaign resonated
with the public, drawing 5,000
nominations in just two
weeks.
Mazda kept the nomination
process free
of red tape, requiring
only a name, location
and short explanation
of why the
business deserved
the funding. As well,
Mazda and its partner,
Scotiabank, are
providing $100,000 to
each of three winners.
Klan, 53, said the campaign
helps the company share
Mazda's " challenger " spirit with
the public. It also helps the carmaker
and its dealers stand out
from the crowd.
BRINGING MORE WOMEN TO THE INDUSTRY
SARAH GRIMES
GROUP LEADER FOR RECRUITMENT AND ADMINISTRATION,
HONDA OF CANADA MANUFACTURING
nder Sarah Grimes' leadership,
women at Honda's vehicle assembly
plant in Alliston, Ont., now make up
29 per cent of the workforce, an increase
from 15.5 per cent just three years ago.
Grimes, 44, instituted Women@Honda
and held regular tours for area women to
show them that modern manufacturing
isn't the heavy-lifting, grimy work they
may perceive it to be.
The plant, established in 1986, was
experiencing a mass of retirements, and
that provided " an opportunity to capitalize
on that moment and really drive
some change. " After the twice monthly
tours, which transitioned to virtual tours
with the arrival of COVID-19 in 2020, 98
per cent of attendees would reach out for
more information on applying.
MOVING A DEALERSHIP INTO A MALL
JIM JIWANI
PRESIDENT, PRESTIGE AUTO GROUP
hen Jim Jiwani told fellow dealers that he was
planning to move a flagship store into West
Edmonton Mall, " they thought I was out of my
mind. " After all, shopping centres weren't exactly
thriving in the age of online retailing. But the 67-yearold
president of Prestige Auto Group saw mutual benefits
from relocating his Edmonton Toyota dealership
into one of Canada's premier shopping and tourist
W
U
VEHICLE-LAUNCH
LEADERSHIP
ERIN BUCHANAN
GENERAL MANAGER, MANUFACTURING,
TOYOTA MOTOR MANUFACTURING CANADA
s a general manager at Toyota Motor
Manufacturing Canada in Cambridge,
Ont., Erin Buchanan, 47, oversees
all manufacturing operations in the north
plant, which produces the RAV4 crossover.
She is also the Lexus NX chief production
manager, responsible for launching that
vehicle on the assembly line. Buchanan is
also an outspoken advocate
for diversity and
inclusion in the automotive
industry.
" [The auto plant] is
state of the art, fast-paced,
exciting manufacturing,
and it's becoming much
more inclusive, " she said.
" I think we need to do a
much better job of continuing
to market that
side of it. "
She joined Toyota in 2001 as an engineering
specialist at the GM-Toyota joint
venture New United Motor Manufacturing
Inc. (NUMMI) Buchanan holds an honours
bachelor degree in chemical engineering
from Ontario's University of Waterloo.
ANSWERING THE CALL
B.C. DEALERS
I
f anyone doubts the commitment auto
dealers have to their communities, they
should talk to Richard Antonenko and
his peers in flood-ravaged areas of British
Columbia.
Antonenko is general manager of
Murray Chevrolet-Buick-GMC, which
is just a few blocks from the November
floods that inundated Merritt, B.C., and
many other sections of the lower mainland.
Despite an evacuation order,
Antonenko stayed behind to help with
relief efforts.
He ferried supplies for emergency
workers and pitched in wherever else he
could. Now, his dealership is working to
find replacements for residents who lost
their vehicles in the flood. He calls it a
" Merritt first " philosophy.
" We're car guys, " said Antonenko. " We
keep figuring things out. "
For B.C. residents, it has been a merciless
year in which November's heavy
rains followed a summer of wildfires.
Several dealership groups have responded
with relief drives. The New Car Dealers
Association of B.C. partnered with several
other organizations, including the family
behind the Wheaton Automotive Group,
in a $1-million fundraising drive for flood
victims.
destinations. The synergy between West Edmonton
Mall, with 32 million visitors a year, and the dealership
was natural, especially given the demise
of traditional anchor tenants such as Sears, said
Jiwani.
The mall provides an on-site customer base for
the dealership, he said, noting that the centre also
employs 12,000 people. " If their cars need servicing,
they can drop them off at the dealership, go to work
and pick them up at the end of the day. "
The move in mid-October makes West
Edmonton Mall Toyota the only full-service dealership
located inside a shopping centre, for now. And
it positions Prestige Auto Group at the leading edge
of a new trend in automotive retailing.
A
Automotive News Canada - December 2021

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