Category: Editor’s note

Treating guests like, well, guests

April 25, 2023

We write a lot about the future of the automotive retail experience, and at times it seems like it’s a lot of theoretical discussions that don’t necessarily make it to the sales floor and service bays of our dealerships. Being …

Emerging and connecting

October 31, 2022

As we, as a society, emerge from the pandemic, and we, as an industry, see glimmers of the end of historic supply shortages, I’m doing a bit of a slow emergence myself, from behind the scenes to being a more …

Do you trust your gut?

September 30, 2022

When it comes to making key decisions, it’s always an interesting question: does someone with years (or decades) of industry experience rely on their “gut” instinct or numbers in a spreadsheet to make a decision?  Dealers have to make key …

How’s your tech stack?

July 29, 2022

Every so often, you hear a term or phrase used often enough that it penetrates your consciousness.  Like, “tech stack.”  At Universus, we were doing an analysis of our own tech stack, to see if our tools were suitable for …

Meet the new editor!

June 3, 2022

Some of you might have seen a news story in our e-news announcing that Stephanie MacDonald was named the new editor of Canadian auto dealer.  I was really touched when the head of one of Canada’s largest dealer groups reached …

Life is between the dash

April 29, 2022

Like many of our readers, I was saddened to learn of the passing of Sean O’Regan, 53, one of the kindest and most beloved car dealers I’ve had the pleasure to meet. I met Sean at a variety of events, …

Ready or not?

March 28, 2022

I interviewed some of Canada’s best-known dealers for a segment for the virtual CADA Summit held last month.  It was a fun, lighthearted piece to help break up the day, and inject some dealer content into the event. One of …

No Groundhog Day here

December 24, 2021

Our magazine’s editorial team had an interesting chat about our cover story in this issue, regarding car dealers who give back to their communities. We’ve run a similar feature for the past few years, showcasing ways in which dealers across …

The first shoe drops

October 25, 2021

The Canadian dealership landscape has forever changed. In August, Lithia & Driveway launched into Canada by acquiring/partnering with Pfaff Motors. Pfaff became the first Canadian dealer group to join a U.S. public dealership group—and most assuredly won’t be the last. …