Automotive News Canada - July 2022 - 28

28
* JULY 2022
Battery recycler
scales up quickly
AJAY KOCHHAR
CEO and co-founder, Li-Cycle Holdings
CHOSEN BECAUSE:
DESPITE HAVING MORE THAN 300
staff, partnerships with the likes of
General Motors and LG Energy Solution,
and operations running or being developed
in Canada, the United States,
Germany and Norway, Li-Cycle Holdings
is " just getting started, " Ajay Kochhar
said.
The Toronto-based company has set
its sights on becoming the world leader
in lithium-ion battery recycling as
well as the go-to supplier of sustainable
materials for electric vehicle batteries.
Kochhar, 30, said to keep pace with the
rapid growth in the EV market, the recycler
must scale up equally quickly as it
branches out beyond its Canadian roots.
" In 2030, we expect there to be roughly
three million
tonnes,
give or take, of
lithium-ion battery
materials requiring
recycling. Today, we're at
20,000 tonnes of capacity. "
To meet the challenge and
become an integral part of the
circular EV battery supply
chain, Kochhar and his team
have spent six years improving
and piloting Li-Cycle's technology.
The company has several
commercial-scale battery shredding
sites in operation and construction
is under way on its plant to isolate
key battery materials for reuse.

IN HIS OWN WORDS:
" We're working agnostically across
the supply chain, call it being the
Switzerland of battery recycling. "
A game-changing
marketing strategist
CHRISTINE SMITH
Director of marketing,
Hyundai Auto Canada
CHOSEN BECAUSE:
CHRISTINE SMITH'S CAREER WITH
Hyundai Auto Canada
began five years ago when
she brought more than 20
years of advertising and
marketing experience to
Innocean Worldwide to handle
the Hyundai and Genesis
accounts. In July 2021, Smith
left Hyundai's communications
and marketing agency of record
to join the automaker as director of
marketing, reporting directly to CEO
Don Romano.
Smith, 45, quickly bolstered the
Hyundai brand in Canada, most notably
by driving the company's new partnership
with the National Hockey
League and NHL Players' Association.
U.S. expansion charges company's future
LOUIS TREMBLAY
CEO, Flo
CHOSEN BECAUSE:
THE SEEMINGLY UNSTOPPABLE
electric-vehicle market is finally at a point
Louis Tremblay had hoped it would be when he
co-founded charging company Flo in 2009.
Tremblay, 39, is now guiding a fast-growing
team of nearly 400 staff as Flo expands its
assembly operations and network in Canada and
now the United States. The company added to
its Shawinigan, Que., footprint last fall, opening
a second plant. Through the rest of 2022, it will
ramp up production at another new charger-assembly
site, in Auburn Hills, Mich.
Tremblay said that expansion south, begun
in 2018, presents opportunities.
" The Canadian market is a great one, it's
really good for our company, but we needed
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" It's absolutely
a
game-changer
for Hyundai in
Canada, " said Smith.
" It's going to put us on Canada's biggest
stage, allowing us to connect in a deep
way with customers and prospects. "
Smith has also been tasked with running
Canadian-made TV spots showcasing
Hyundai's electrification campaign,
launched in October.
Smith is the most senior woman at
Hyundai, and her team of 21 employees
is comprised of 80 per cent women.

IN HER OWN WORDS:
" Having a shared vision and creating
a collaborative environment rooted
in open communication, where we're
all working together towards that
vision, is my guiding principle when it
comes to building a team. "
more scale, and the North American market for
us was the answer. "
Flo operates a network of more than 60,000
charging stations across North America, and it
will soon have manufacturing capacity to add
75,000 stations a year.

IN HIS OWN WORDS:
" If we want to promote EV adoption, everyone
needs to feel that they can go anywhere and
charge on a reliable charging station. This is
the big challenge ...that I hope we're going to
tackle with the rest of the industry. "
Speedy loan approvals are key
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 11
rates and different loan durations,
to customers with lower
credit scores or who don't
meet the payment-to-income
ratio requirements for prime
loans.
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To secure the few loans out
there, Roosenberg said, lenders
need to empower their
front-line approval staff to
make decisions quickly and
ensure that decisions are communicated
quickly, particularly
when the deal has to be different
from what was submitted
on the application.
It's also imperative that
lenders communicate their
policies effectively to manage
dealer expectations, he said.
" It's up to the sales rep to
make sure dealers understand
what the risk profile is
so there's no confusion or that
the dealer isn't sending deals
that don't fit the risk profile, "
Roosenberg said.
Dealers will choose to do
business with lenders based
on fast turnaround, said
Steve Chipman, president of
Winnipeg-based Birchwood
Automotive Group, which
owns 21 dealerships in
Manitoba, Saskatchewan and
North Dakota. But lenders
also compete for the business
based on the reserve, or the
amount lenders pay dealers
for filling out the paperwork,
Chipman said.
" We submit to several
banks at once, " he said, " and
when we see the approvals
coming back, it's usually
the fastest back that gets
the deal. But banks pay us to
do the paperwork, and different
banks pay different rates. "
Dealers will give a bank with
a higher reserve a bit more
breathing room on time, he
said.
Some banks offer the ability
to fill in paperwork using
electronic signatures, another
competitive advantage that
dealers appreciate, Chipman
said. " Banks that offer e-sig
make it easier to do business
with them, " he said.
Electronic signatures are
a relatively recent addition,
Wadeson said. Even in early
2020, some banks were still
requiring dealers to fax forms,
he said.
Captive finance companies,
owned by some of the automotive
manufacturers, are at a
disadvantage in today's market,
Chipman said.
" There are no incentives
right now because of the
shortage of supply, so captive
finance companies aren't
as competitive right now, "
he said. This is particularly
true as the slowdown in sales
leaves banks sitting on surplus
money they're eager to
lend. - ANC
http://www.JoeVerde.com/CAN32
Automotive News Canada - July 2022

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