Automotive News Canada - July 2022 - 1

BEST PRACTICES: THE WAITING GAME WITH CUSTOMERS/P9
JULY 2022 | VOL. 6, NO. 7 | AUTOMOTIVENEWS.CA FOR BREAKING NEWS AND DIGITAL EDITION
SECOND-QUARTER ANALYSIS
ADVANTAGE,
CANADA
Natural resources and a skilled labour
force have pushed Mexico out of the
manufacturing spotlight, for now
By DAVID KENNEDY
T ORONTO BUREAU CHIEF
A SERIES OF ELECTRIC-VEHICLE AND BATTERY
supply-chain investments in Canada and the United States
this spring have shifted North America's automotive
axis a bit farther north, industry
insiders say. But despite few wins
in Mexico's column so far - zero
of 10 large-scale battery plants - it
is too early in the EV transition to
discount the role that country could
play in the segment over the long
term.
DiCaro:
Canada and
the United
States have
the highly
skilled labour
needed to
get the EV
industry off
the ground.
SUPPLIED
PHOTO
" In this first generation of
mass-market EV production, I
think [automakers] realize that
they have no choice but to get
it right, " said Angelo DiCaro,
director of research at Unifor,
which represents about 41,000
workers at auto assembly and
parts plants in Canada.
With EV commitments
this spring in Ontario -
notably those at General
SEE MEXICO PAGE 34
SEE DesROSIERS PAGE 36
The days of buying cars off the lot could be over, permanently
By DOUG FIRBY
CALGARY CORRESPONDENT
ORDER-AND-WAIT PRACTICES HAVE
become the norm during the current
vehicle-supply crunch and will become
the way most people buy vehicles in the
future, auto retailing analysts say.
Automakers have been forced to
restructure inventory management as
'Get used to it. This is not
going to go away. This is
how Apple and Tesla have
become so profitable'
customers wait weeks, months and even
years for their preferred vehicle. In the
process, companies have learned that having
a leaner inventory can be more profitable
than the old norm, they said.
" Get used to it, " said John Bardwell,
an automotive product strategist at Bond
Brand Loyalty in Toronto. " This is not
going to go away. This is how Apple and
Tesla have become so profitable.
" [Dealers] are selling maybe a few less
vehicles, but they're making full margin
on every one. "
Buyers have learned from industry disrupters
such as Tesla,
Rivian and Lucid that
they should expect to
wait for their vehicle,
said Jeff Williams,
president of Absolute
Results Productions
Ltd., an automotive
sales training and marSEE
LEAN PAGE 36
Samir
Akhavan
MANAGING PARTNER
416.880.8989 samir@templetonmarsh.com WWW.TEMPLETONMARSH.COM
Bardwell: What
dealers lose in
volume they
make up for
with greater
profit.
FILE PHOTO
Sales sore
for many,
soar for a few
FCA, Ford and Lincoln were
among the companies in the
plus column for the quarter,
but June was a disaster
for many brands
By GREG LAYSON
DIGITAL AND MOBILE EDITOR
THE SECOND QUARTER WAS A WILD RIDE
filled with ups, downs and rebounds.
New-vehicle sales plunged an estimated 10.8
per cent during the quarter. But it
wasn't bad news across the board for
automakers, as
a handful managed
gains -
some of them
Q2 STATS/P38-39
significant. Others, however, saw
sales plummet.
FCA Canada, a division of
Stellantis, reported second-quarter
sales of 47,184 vehicles, an increase
of 16.6 per cent compared with the
same period last year. Its retail
sales, which exclude fleets, were up
18 per cent compared with the same
quarter of 2021, the automaker said.
Through the end of June, FCA
Canada sales were up 3.7 per cent
with 89,771 vehicles sold, compared
with the same six-month period last
year.
Buckingham:
Demand
" continues
to be very
strong " for
Stellantis
vehicles
despite
" supply chain
and shipping
headwinds. "
FILE PHOTO
In a statement, FCA Canada CEO David
Buckingham said demand " continues to be very
strong for our vehicles, as evidenced in the second
quarter by sales increases for the Chrysler, Jeep,
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Automotive News Canada - July 2022

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