Beating the odds
The CADA Laureate winners featured in this issue are truly deserving of the award, and now join the ranks of a group of dealers who are legends in our industry. It’s tough to become a CADA Laureate. Really tough. Only …
Category: Editor’s note
The show must go on
We write a lot about succession in the pages of Canadian auto dealer — including this issue’s cover story. That’s because the core audience of our magazine consists of dealer principals, who think a lot about these issues. And other …
Fixing fixed ops
New and used vehicle sales in Canada will always fluctuate, and there’s not much dealers can do about it. Even the most agile dealership, with the best marketing outreach and customer retention strategies, will experience events that nip into the …
The show does go on
You have to give the auto industry a lot of credit for trying. For an industry that prides itself on big-scale events, dramatic new vehicle launches, massive trade shows and conferences like the NADA Show and SEMA, and more recently …
Overdue change is coming
Cars aren’t the only things with blind spots. We all have them. As we go about our daily lives, focused intently on the things demanding our immediate attention, many of us miss the most obvious things happening around us. Consider …
Here we go again…
Just as people in the auto industry were starting to use the past tense to describe their experience with the pandemic, outbreaks of COVID-19 have sprung up across the country, and in some ways we are now back to where …
Develop an experimentation mindset
One of the most important messages from the recent Auto Dealers Innovation Series & Expo (ADIS) was all about the need to innovate, experiment, fail, reassess, and experiment again. All companies — including car dealerships — need to develop an …
More relevant than ever
Producing the annual CADA Laureate award issue detailing the winners and finalists is always an amazing part of the Canadian auto dealer publishing schedule. Not only do we get to showcase the 15 finalists and three winners, but we get …
Are we what we see?
The cover treatment of this issue of Canadian auto dealer was an inspired idea from the publisher, Niel Hiscox. And it was a good one. Even in the midst of a global health crisis, there are other major forces reshaping …
Act like a paramedic
Over the past few weeks, I’ve had the privilege of speaking with dozens of amazing car dealers across the country. They are holding up well. They are adapting. They are innovating. But make no mistake, they are hurting. Some describe …
Dark days: light ahead
We have all just gone through, and continue to experience, the most difficult stretch in our industry’s history — and perhaps in history. No one could have fully imagined the entire world grinding to a halt, with commerce all but …
Tough times, tougher measures
Car dealerships sit at the epicentre of many communities across Canada. They are gathering places where people drop off their vehicles for service, socialize and visit to shop for their dream vehicles. Dealerships have been adapting their stores to create …
