The next era of software
I believe we’re coming to the end of what I’ll call the Digital Chaos Phase of the automotive industry. Please note that I don’t use the word chaos as a pejorative. It has been chaotic for a couple of …
Category: Opinion
Life is between the dash
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?
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 …
More questions than answers
The war in Ukraine has taken some of the foundational changes that our industry is trying to understand and measure, and thrown them into a dramatic new light. For now, I find myself with more questions than answers. It might …
New look, new outlook
If you’ll indulge me, I’m going to use my space in this issue to highlight a few things we’ve been up to that I believe you’ll see benefit in. First off, we relaunched the websites for Canadian auto dealer and …
On my mind at year end
I love the end of the year. Beyond the holidays and all the food and family gatherings this entails, I find it a great time for reflection and renewal. And it’s safe to say that, for those in the automotive …
No Groundhog Day here
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
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. …
Starting a deeper look at AI
We know it’s coming. We know it will infiltrate many aspects of our businesses, from supporting the decisions of our staff to engaging directly with our customers either with or without a member of your human resources team. We’ve been …
Avoid painful toe stubs
I was reminded recently of just how high the bar is for service when it comes to consumer expectations for their interactions with car dealerships. Now, this editor’s note won’t be very popular with some of our readers, because it’s …
We’re going hybrid!
Given all the work we do with the industry associations and our common mission to serve Canada’s new car dealers, cohabitation made great sense. Universus, the parent company that publishes this magazine, is now fully committed to what is often …
Cultivating the EV influencer
For decades, the automotive industry has understood the value of the automotive enthusiast. The enthusiast, for whom their vehicle is much more than just a transportation resource, is the reason that magazines (and now their digital media channels) like Car …
