Short sighted policies hamper our economic performance I recently had the pleasure of attending a very interesting presentation. Professor Christopher Ragan of McGill University – a renowned economist with a world class resume – gave a talk entitled A Complex …
Web 2.0 guru Jared Hamilton makes the complex seem obvious As a magazine editor, I sit through a lot of speeches and presentations. Because it’s my job to be there, I always try to listen intently. My natural curiosity usually …
Brandtford dealer Forbes Bros celebrate milestone anniversary How do you measure success? For Bob and Jim Forbes, brothers and dealer principals of Forbes Bros Chevrolet Buick GMC Cadillac, it’s easy to measure success in decades — nine to be exact. …
The outlook brightens, but forecast remains cloudy With a nod to the pop band The Cars with their 1979 hit, is there a case to be made today for “letting the good times roll” in the Canadian automotive industry? According …
There are great managers and great leaders. Which are you? Over my 25 years as an observer and advisor to the automotive retail industry, the partnership between automotive vehicle brand owners (VBO) and their independent dealers has amazed me. From …
After setting a new SAAR (Seasonally Adjusted Annual Rate) high for the year in June, new-vehicle sales in Canada plunged again in July continuing the topsy-turvy ride that has characterized the year to date. That’s no surprise to those in …
Nissan Canada announced plans to significantly expand its dealer presence in Canada to help improve customer experience and gain a larger share of the Canadian market. The company says its dealer strategy in Canada is a key part of its …
Mitsubishi Motor Sales of Canada, Inc. announced new online service appointment scheduling tools within all of their English and French dealer websites in Canada. These tools, from Dealer-FX Group, Inc. allow Mitsubishi Canada customers to request service appointments online or …
DealerRater, the car dealer review website, announced an enhanced feature of its Certified Dealer Program that will enable dealers to better integrate and leverage online reviews on Facebook. This supplements existing tools that enable a dealer’s reviews to automatically feed …
BMW Group Financial Services has created what the “Ultimate Drive” mobile app and calls it an industry first in social navigation. The company says it is offering this service to its customer base of nearly one million individuals. The company …
There’s been a lot of hype around the coming age of the electric vehicle, but few are actually driving around Canadian streets. The much hyped all-electric Nissan Leaf took a step from hype to hope this week when Nissan Canada …
Kia’s first hybrid in North America is the 2011 Optima mid-size sedan. Starting at $30,595, the company says it is aimed at drivers looking for a well-equipped sedan that doesn’t sacrifice style comfort or performance for the sake of fuel …
