Automotive News Canada - September 2022 - 29

* SEPTEMBER 2022
29
M-B's Tetzloff expected to 'build upon' Wiese's progress
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 3
Mercedes-Benz Canada spokesman
Zakary Paget confirmed that Wiese's
departure was her decision and was
" indeed for family reasons. "
" The other important factor to keep in
mind with regard to the positive reaction
is that Eva's successor, Andreas Tetzloff,
brings a wealth of experience in retail
and customer service and will continue
to build upon the strong foundation Eva
has built with our dealer network, " Paget
said.
Dealers are ready to roll out the welcome
mat, said Lowes, who already has
exchanged emails with Tetzloff and held
a conference call with MercedesBenz
USA CEO Dimitris
Psillakis, Wiese and Tetzloff.
" He seems great. Deeply experienced
on the retail side, and
he certainly is excited to come
to Canada, " Lowes said. " We're
excited to have him. "
Tetzloff, 50, comes to Canada
from Mercedes-Benz Russia,
where he was CEO. He joined
Mercedes in 1992 and held
increasingly senior roles in
Germany, culminating with his
move to Russia.
Lowes:
Increasing
vehicle
supply is
a priority.
SUPPLIED
PHOTO
Tetzloff will lead a nationwide network
of 59 dealerships and 250 corporate
employees in Canada.
Wiese is heading back to
Germany as managing director of
Mercedes-Benz Customer Solutions
GmbH, which focuses on the development
and sale of branded original
accessories and collector products.
Lowes said he looks forward
to working with Tetzloff and
spelled out a number of priorities.
" Nothing specific, but increasing
vehicle supply, launching new
product, including electric, continuing
to build on guest and client satisfaction
and continuing the great
momentum in the Canadian
market. " - ANC
Ontario courts new battery business
Vic Fedeli
attempts to
drum up interest
from Asia and
expects an
extra $2 billion
in supply-chain
investments
By DAVID KENNEDY
T ORONTO BUREAU CHIEF
THE SUPPLY-CHAIN
investment required to support
Stellantis and LG Energy
Solution's new battery plant
in Windsor, Ont., could total
at least $2 billion - about half
of the $5-billion investment in
the site itself - the province's
economic development minister
says.
Vic Fedeli, Ontario minister
of economic development,
job creation and trade,
wrapped up the South Korea
leg of a trade mission in Asia
on Sept. 7. He met with LG
and three potential suppliers
of the planned Ontario plant,
expected to begin producing
cells for electric vehicles in
2024.
" There may well be a couple
of billion dollars worth of ancillary
companies that will make
components necessary to fulfill
the requirements to make batteries
in Ontario, " Fedeli told
Automotive News Canada. " It
could be $2 [billion] or $3 billion
in our first blush. "
Fedeli would not disclose
what battery component companies
he called on during
three days of talks in South
Korea but said his team had
" very successful initial meetings "
with three prospective
investors that LG Energy had
advised the province to call
on before the trip. The battery-cell
maker also provided
further leads for the province
to pursue during meetings in
Seoul.
" We've got our work cut out
Fedeli, second from left: Encouraged by sales calls with
suppliers that could locate near the Stellantis-LG Energy
Solution battery plant in Ontario. FILE PHOTO
Genesis shift
brings new
Canadian boss
Marshall moves up,
Hamilton moves over
to run unit in Europe
By DAVID KENNEDY
T ORONTO BUREAU CHIEF
GENESIS MOTORS IS SHUFFLING ITS
executive ranks, promoting National Sales
Manager Eric Marshall to lead the luxury
brand in Canada as Lawrence Hamilton
departs to take over as managing director of
Genesis' fledgling European operations.
Marshall assumed oversight of all operations
Sept. 1 at Genesis
Motors Canada in his new
role as director.
Marshall, 46 and a
Montreal native, has been
with Genesis since it
launched in Canada in 2016,
starting as a senior sales
manager before being promoted
to lead national sales.
The company said Marshall
is among the " architects " of
the brand's development in
Canada, helping establish its
" unique " agency model and
create agreements with its
distributor network.
He joined Genesis' parent
company, Hyundai Motor
Co., in 2015 after nearly seven
years with General Motors
Canada.
Marshall:
Has been
with
Genesis
since 2016.
SUPPLIED
PHOTO
for us now to turn those leads
into productive sales calls in
the future and hopefully into
additional companies that will
locate in Ontario, " Fedeli said.
We've got our work
cut out for us now
to turn those leads
into productive sales
calls in the future and
hopefully into additional
companies that will
locate in Ontario.
VIC FEDELI
Ontario minister of economic
development, job creation
and trade
system faster, get them into the workforce, "
said Roxanne Rose, Linamar
Corp.'s global human resources
vice-president.
The industry bears some responsibility
for the system's shortfalls,
said Alan McClelland, dean of the
School of Transportation at Toronto's
Centennial College, which has about
1,200 automotive students.
In the service sector, for instance,
the national Red Seal program governs
the training, apprenticeship and certification
of trades, including automotive,
McClelland said.
" The lion's share of the input into
Red Seal standards are from industry, " he
told Automotive News Canada.
McClelland:
" Still quite
a bias and
stigma
toward
trades. "
SUPPLIED
PHOTO
Rather than being forward-looking, the
industry wants technicians familiar with
SEEKING SUPPLIERS
In June, South Korea's
Dongshin Motech Ltd.
announced plans to build a
$60-million plant in Windsor
that will make aluminum casings
for batteries built at the
nearby Stellantis-LG Energy
plant, which is known officially
as NextStar Energy Inc.
The province is working
to add similar suppliers to
Ontario's battery ecosystem,
Fedeli said, though he had no
firm deals to announce as he
left Seoul.
" We're very encouraged
by the sales calls we had, "
he said. " We hope that these
turn into deals in the coming
weeks and months. "
current technology.
" The apprenticeship curriculum
generally lags behind and follows the
vehicles in the market, " McClelland
said.
Fast-tracking is also problematic, he
said. Programs run one to three years,
including classroom time and apprenticeship
work experience. Many students
use breaks to earn money for
their education.
Streamlining still wouldn't lead to
more people entering the industry,
McClelland said.
" We don't have enough people choosing
trades right now because there's
still quite a bias and stigma toward trades, "
he said. Those who do choose trades often
lack the academic grounding to train in
advanced technology fields, he said. - ANC
The auto industry bears some
responsibility for educational
shortcomings since it
provides guidance, said Alan
McClelland, dean of the School
of Transportation at Toronto's
Centennial College.
SUPPLIED PHOTO
The Ontario government's
economic development team
also met during the visit with
Samsung SDI Co. Ltd., pitching
the province as a destination
for investment from the
company, which makes batteries
for both consumer electronics
and EVs.
Fedeli did not meet with
either Kia or Hyundai as part
of the visit.
" We will continue to work
with global automakers, but
this was really a focus on the
electric-vehicle battery and
components, " he said.
Fedeli embarked on the
next leg of his trip on Sept.
7, flying to Tokyo to meet
with automakers and battery
manufacturers in Japan. His
office said he met with Honda,
Toyota, Subaru and electronics
manufacturer Panasonic
before returning to Canada on
Sept. 10. - ANC
At Genesis Motor
Europe, Hamilton replaces
Dominique Boesch, who
led the brand for nearly two
years, overseeing its launch
in Germany, Switzerland and
the United Kingdom over the
past 14 months.
Hamilton:
Moving to
Europe after
growing
sales here.
SUPPLIED
PHOTO
Hamilton took over as executive director
of Genesis Motors Canada in May 2021 after
spending six years leading Hyundai Auto
Canada's marketing division.
His tenure has seen the upstart brand
carve out a growing share of luxury sales.
Genesis sold 4,569 vehicles in Canada last
year, up from 1,462 in 2020 and 1,525 in 2019,
according to the Automotive News Research
& Data Center. It has sold 2,725 vehicles
through the first half of 2022.
Entirely reliant on online sales for the
first few years after its 2016 launch in
Canada, Genesis, under Hamilton, began
building brick-and-mortar locations. The
company's 30 distributors across the nation
are at various stages of building showrooms.
Four Genesis Retail Experience Centres are
open, eight are under construction, and six
groundbreakings are planned. - ANC
LUXURY TAX
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 3
are also taxable. For the example provided
by CRA, a purchaser who adds
$6,000 in improvements to a vehicle
subject to the tax, raising the taxable
amount from a $150,000 purchase
price to $156,000, would pay $1,200 tax
on the improvements.
Modifications related to towing a
trailer are not subject to tax.
Officials from the Finance
Department referred questions about
the tax to CRA and said it would
respond to the dealers' concerns.
That response had not been received
by deadline. - ANC
Automotive News Canada - September 2022

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Automotive News Canada - September 2022
