Canadian auto dealer traveled to Hyundai Auto Canada’s headquarters in Markham, Ont. for a one-on-one interview with President and CEO, Don Romano.
Here’s a snippet of the conversation between Petrina Gentile, regular columnist and automotive journalist, and Don Romano. You can watch the full interview at www.canadianautomotivevideo.com.
PG: Before taking the helm at Hyundai Auto Canada last year, you were the president of Mazda Canada Inc. What’s the biggest difference between running a South Korean car company and a Japanese one?
DR: We call it “Hyundai time.” In “Hyundai time,” things move quickly. We work hard. We play hard. We have fun. But at the same time, we’re a relatively new company if you look at all the automotive companies. We’ve grown rapidly and to sustain that type of growth we have to continually work a little faster, a little harder than our competition. We have to be a little smarter about the marketplace. We are far more aggressive in these areas than our competition, which is contributing to our past success and will contribute to our future success.
PG: What new products are you most excited about?
DR: They all excite me. We have a new Tucson coming out in less than 60 days, and I had a chance to drive it. The car is world class. It’s probably the most exciting sport utility vehicle to hit the market. It’s going to be a tremendous success. All of our products, including our environmental products, are great. We were the first company in Canada to launch a [Tucson] fuel cell vehicle. While the numbers are small, the excitement is high. To see a complete shift in the industry to where people can drive carbon-free in a vehicle that doesn’t require a six hour battery charge is an exciting evolution in eco-strategy.
PG: So in the battle between hydrogen fuel cell vehicles and pure battery cars – what green technology are you banking on?
DR: I think there’s going to be a number of different solutions to solve the problem – not just one. I do believe fuel cell is one of those solutions. But I also believe there’s a place in the world for battery-powered cars. For shorter commutes it makes a lot of sense. But if you and I want to drive up to Montreal in our battery-powered car we’re not going to get there and back. Right now, if we had hydrogen stations across the country we’d have unlimited range. You can also fill up in five minutes with
hydrogen like you would with gasoline. There’s a lot of conveniences that come with the hydrogen system.
PG: Do you plan to expand your dealership network?
DR: It isn’t a high priority for us. The higher priority right now is upgrading the facilities across the country. Expansion comes as markets develop and open. Our growth is relatively small right now so it isn’t a high priority. But improving the brand is the top priority. Part of that brand improvement is getting all of the dealerships upgraded.
We’re reformulating our dealership facilities. We call it GDSI [Global Dealership Space Identity]. It’s an abbreviation for our new global space design. Next to our competition, with primary colours of red and blue and big towers, they look very similar. We wanted to be different. We didn’t want to be associated with a colour. We want to be associated with our cars. To better showcase our cars we came up with a different look.
In addition, we put a certification program together for our dealers that changes the way we interact with our dealers both in the sales and service side. We’ve also come up with a new brand campaign – we call it the H factor. I think our ads in the past were more event and dealer oriented and these are more about driving excitement and enthusiasm. The ads do a better job of showcasing our products and the excitement associated with them. By pulling these things together we believe our brand will continue to escalate.
PG: How has the role of the dealership changed?
DR: Look at how people are interacting with our brand today. 90 per cent of that interaction is done before they walk into a showroom. The dealers are adapting quite nicely to that. They understand they’re dealing with communications online whether it’s through chat or emails. They’re already having those conversations and trying to overcome any concerns customers have before they come in. It’s changing. It’s not a complete revolution. It’s a progressive evolution.
PG: What’s your forecast for Hyundai Auto Canada in 2015?
DR: With the way our economy is going right now I think there’s a number of unanswered questions that even the best economists are not able to put their arms around. But my forecast is to have another record year. I don’t want to forecast what that per cent will be in terms of numbers. A lot will depend on the market, on the price of fuel, on shifts in tastes from cars to SUVs, small cars to large cars, which seems to be a trend right now. We have to take all those things into account. But at the end of the day, we have a lot of hard working people here and in [South] Korea counting on us, and we intend to set another record.
PG: Do you think the auto industry will have another record year?
DR: I do. I think the mix will look significantly different than it did in the past. But I do believe the fundamentals of our economy are strong… Maybe I’m a bit more optimistic than my competition, but I do believe the fundamentals of our economy are solid, and that will be the foundation for another record year.
