Awarded during a ceremony at the recent 2014 Auto Remarketing Canada conference, the International Automotive Remarketers’ Alliance (IARA) in Canada announced this morning the recipients of the Annual Remarketer of the Year and two Industry Icon Awards.
This year’s Remarketer of the Year is Doug Collis, remarketing sales manager at Ford of Canada.
The award is chosen by members of the IARA by a nomination process and is intended to recognize an individual who contributed to the awareness, the stature, and overall strength of remarketing as an aspect of the automotive industry, IARA officials explained.
Collis has been with Ford since 1979 and held positions in various areas of the organization.
Early in his career with Ford, Collis spent two years in Western Canada before returning to Ontario in 2000 to begin his career in “the world or remarketing,” IARA shared.
“With oversight to all of Ford Canada’s remarketing activities Mr. Collis is a genuine expert in the area, although he would most likely disavow a label such as expert,” IARA officials shared. “It is this humble and sociable nature that makes him a welcome addition to any room or conversation as he freely shares his knowledge with anyone.”
The IARA extended honors to two other automotive industry veterans, as well, who were both awarded IARA’s Industry Icon awards.
These Industry Icon awards are presented by the IARA to members who have made substantial contributions to the IARA and the remarketing industry at-large.
Recipients of the IARA Industry Icon Award are Alex Johnston, of Hyundai Auto Canada; and Arnold Lee, from GM Financial.
Johnston, remarketing manager at Hyundai Auto Canada, also oversees the company’s CPO business.
Highlighting the exec’s background, Johnston began his career in the late 1960’s in automotive finance.
He then worked at American Motors before leaving to co-found Trexar, a leasing company which served Honda Canada, among others.
After a series of acquisitions Trexar became part of GE Capital where he was actively involved in their growth in the Canadian Market.
“Johnston was also instrumental in HSBC’s success in the automotive finance business before moving to what was then Financialinx in 2005 and eventually moving to his current position at Hyundai,” IARA pointed out.
Lee, GM Financial’s vice president of remarketing, oversees all aspects of GM Financial’s lease-end process, and he is also responsible for the remaining Financialinx vehicles in GM Financial’s portfolio.
Lee had already begun his automotive career, having worked form British Motor Corp., when he emigrated from Ireland to Canada in 1967.
After holding the position of vice president at two leasing firm, Lee joined Financialinx in 2002.
“Known as a technology pioneer, Lee led the development of an online leased-vehicle return/upstream sales channel process which, while commonplace today, it was industry-leading when it was rolled out in the mid-1990s,” IARA officials sad.
The IARA presented these awards at a ceremony on March 17 during the 2014 Auto Remarketing Canada Conference held in Toronto.
Andrew Lennox — general manager of Pfaff Volkswagen in Newmarket, Ontario — is already a familiar name with readers as he was featured in the January/ February issue of the Auto Remarketing Canada Digital Magazine.
Now, Lennox is back as the 2014 Auto Remarketing Canada Dealer of the Year.
Chosen by Auto Remarketing Canada staff and our industry partners, The Auto Remarketing Canada Dealer of the Year Award, sponsored by Equifax, was presented at an award ceremony on March 17 at the 2014 Auto Remarketing Canada conference in Toronto.
In response to the honor, Lennox included his team at Pfaff VW and mentors throughout his career in his accomplishments: “The important thing for me is you only get here through the people surrounding you. And I have been fortunate to be surrounded by some fantastic sales managers and service managers, and that really goes the whole way.
“This really isn’t about me; it’s about the people that I am fortunate enough to work with every single day. I have always thought of myself as someone there to support rather than direct. I am a bit of a director, but I want people to know that I’m there to support them,” he continued.
He also pointed out an award such as this is brought about by stellar performances from all dealership staff — sales, service, reconditioning, and more.
“I share this accolade with all those who touch a used car along the way, and continue to be amazed by the fantastic volume of sales we are producing each and every month,” he said.
To learn a little more about our 2014 Dealer of the Year, Auto Remarketing Canada chatted with Lennox, covering a variety of topics including why this GM first got into the automotive business.
More Than 20 Years In The Biz
Lennox began his career in an unintentional manner of sorts. He started selling cars in 1988 at Greg Little Mazda in Richmond Hill, Ontario, and what started as a summer job quickly evolved into much more.
“I started it as a summer job. I was in the middle of going to school. I enjoyed it so much I didn’t go back to school,” Lennox said laughingly. “Really, I think it got in my blood really early on. I love cars and I love people, and the two are a great combination.”
Lennox quickly jumped up from salesman to business manager, which helped launch a career in automotive dealerships that has spanned more than 20 years.
Over the years, Lennox worked with Town & Country BMW in Markham, Ontario, before working with Honda dealers for 17 years.
“Looking back to my Honda days, I still think of the fantastic times working with industry leaders and dealership groups, specifically, that all had this unique knack of taking care of customers first,” Lennox said.
After leaving Honda and spending six years at Roy Foss Automotive Group in Thorn Hill, Ontario, Lennox joined H.J. Pfaff in 2012.
Lennox explained he had an interesting start to his job with Pfaff, taking on an overseeing role before settling into his current position.
“I was initially more of a director and oversaw the construction of the Audi and VW store. I was initially there to oversee the construction; It was rewarding to build two new dealerships in Newmarket,” Lennox said.
Aligning Ethics
Lennox explained one of biggest reasons behind why he enjoys coming to work is the company values at H.J. Pfaff.
“There are a lot of dealers out there that strive for just net profit, and then there’s dealers who grow net profit organically by taking care of their customer base. I think with the Pfaff group, I have found a group where my ethics and the corporate ethics are perfectly aligned,” he shared.
Chris Pfaff, president and chief executive officer of the dealership group, is directly involved with each and every dealership, Lennox said — a boon for each store’s sales performance.
“That’s fantastic because he also has a very good pulse on what’s going on in the marketplace, and it’s great to work for someone like that,” Lennox added.
In fact, direct ownership involvement is not the only unique thing about Pfaff.
“We have a different style of business here,” Lennox said. “I do not have a used-car manager.”
Instead, Pfaff VW employs sales managers — who are not specific to used cars — who work directly with inventory buyers and remarketing specialists that help get inventory bought and up online.
“It’s not the textbook used-car manager role that we’ve developed here,” Lennox said. “It’s basically inventory coordinators working with sales managers that are not specific to used-cars.”
He also noted the store tries to hire a lot of young people, pulling many of its best employees from Georgian College.
“We believe in hiring a lot of young people. We continually train young people on how to buy cars for the marketplace … It’s a bit of a new process that we are working on here, and it’s working very well for us,” he explained.
Impact of VW Brand
Not only is Lennox aligned with the dealership group brand, but he also noted the Volkswagen reputation continues to impress.
“I had no experience with VW before I came here. The brand was not one I focused on,” said Lennox. “VW brand image is continuing to get stronger and stronger. We see it in our market share results, and VW Canada sales continue to grow. They’ve got a very solid forecast to be one of the world’s top auto manufacturers by 2018.”
VW is unique, Lennox said, because of its unusually loyal customer base, “perhaps more so than even Honda or Toyota.”
“They (VW buyers) are looking for a premium brand and a premium driving experience. And you know they are getting it at a very good value. For example, the fully equipped Jetta you can get for about $19,000. They know they are getting a German-engineered car that is being priced for the market.”
Lennox also pointed out VW’s client base tends to be not only brand loyal, but also dealership loyal, as well.
“I think that speaks to the reputation that the Pfaff group has in the industry and among its customers,” he concluded.
Ford Motor Company of Canada Ltd. has officially announced the award winners for the 2013 Auction Quality Program.
The Auction Quality Program is an annual metrics driven auction performance tracking initiative which focuses on the overall quality of auction services and vehicle reconditioning quality at 13 ADESA Auction sites across Canada in 2013.
Auctions were divided into two sub-groups:
Group A – includes larger auctions that host Ford sponsored factory closed and open sales
Group B – includes smaller auctions that host Ford sponsored open sales
Winners in each grouping were competing for top performance recognition in two categories: Overall Auction Quality and Reconditioning Excellence.
“The Auction Quality Program recognizes outstanding achievement in site services and rates each Ford sponsored auction on its performance as it relates to the standards that Ford of Canada has set out, and encourages the auctions to provide a high level of service to our customers,” said Steve Ross, Ford of Canada’s remarketing operations manager.
“With the auction’s support, Ford of Canada can continue to offer all its customers an impressive selection of high-quality, pre-owned vehicles”, he continued.
The winners of the 2013 Auction Quality Award are:
Group A – ADESA Vancouver with a score of 9.44 out of 10 (4th consecutive year)
Group B – ADESA Saskatoon, with a score of 9.15 out of 10.
“All of the winning auctions received their superior Auction Quality ratings from Ford of Canada dealerships, Ford Remarketing Services personnel and by demonstrating outstanding performance in operational processes including auction communication, on-site auction experience, services provided, vehicle preparation, vehicle delivery and overall satisfaction,” said Doug Collis, Ford of Canada’s remarketing sales manager.
Ford of Canada also announced the winners of the 2013 Reconditioning Excellence Award, which is designed to challenge auction facilities across Canada to exceed Ford of Canada dealer’s reconditioning expectations and to perform their operational procedures at the highest level possible.
Reconditioning Excellence Award winner’s performance in 2013 was measured by Ford of Canada dealers.
The winners of the 2013 Reconditioning Award are:
Group A – ADESA Halifax with a score of 4.85 out of 5 (3rd consecutive year)
Group B – ADESA Ottawa & ADESA Moncton, each with scores of 5 out of 5 (Moncton 6th consecutive year)
Ford of Canada congratulated the general managers of each winning auction site to show appreciation for an excellent year in 2013. The general managers for each winning site are as follows:
• ADESA Vancouver: John Mac Donald
• ADESA Saskatoon: Garnet Rathgeber
• ADESA Halifax: Lisa Scott
• ADESA Moncton: Keith Fudge
• ADESA Ottawa: Joanne Marzsin
In 2013, Ford of Canada welcomed its newest auction partner, Manheim Canada, and launched Ford’s remarketing activities at Manheim Toronto and Manheim Montreal. Both Manheim locations will take part in Ford of Canada’s Auction Quality Program for 2014. This increases the number of participating auction locations to 15 across Canada.
“Ford Sponsored Auction partnerships are important to us, and we thank them for their contribution. With this support, Ford of Canada will continue to offer our customers an impressive selection of high quality, pre-owned vehicles,” continued Doug Collis in closing.
During the Canadian International Auto Show in Toronto, the Automobile Journalists Association of Canada announced their picks for the 2014 AJAC Canadian Car of the Year Awards.
AJAC declared the 2014 Mazda6 the 2014 Canadian Car of the Year.
Interestingly, this is the second time that Mazda Canada has earned the overall Canadian Car of the Year title, AJAC reported, having previously won the title in 2004 for the Mazda3.
The awards are given based on a combination of objective data and evaluation by 80 journalists of 174 vehicles, AJAC officials explained.
Commenting on the news, Kory Koreeda, president of Mazda Canada, said, "We are truly honoured that AJAC has named the 2014 Mazda6 as their Canadian Car of the Year, our flagship car that demonstrates the best Mazda has to offer.
“This car introduced a combination of style, safety, fuel economy, and dynamic driving into the midsize segment that has never been available before, and winning CCOTY is an overwhelming acknowledgement of that,” he continued.
The Mazda6 was also the winner of the "Best New Family Car (over $30,000)" class.
Twelve category winners were eligible for the top honors of either the "Canadian Car of the Year" or "Canadian Utility Vehicle of the Year" after being announced on Dec. 3 of last year.
Mazda won three of the 12 categories, while General Motors and Kia each had double wins.
Other winners included Acura, Jeep, Lexus, Infiniti and Mercedes-Benz.
The whole point of AJAC's Canadian Car of the Year awards. AJAC stated, “is to provide consumers with sound, comparative information on vehicles that are new to the market.”
The vote results and comparative data from the entire 2014 CCOTY awards program are posted to the AJAC website for shoppers to use as a buying guide.
Interestingly, this could be used as a dealer tool, as well, since shoppers seem to be taking note of the award winners.
Maritz Research, on behalf of AJAC and in association with Honda Canada, conducted a survey of 2013 Honda Accord buyers to test their recognition of AJAC and the Honda Accord as winner of the 2013 Canadian Car of the Year award, the association explained.
All of the survey respondents noted they were award the Honda Accord was selected as the 2013 Canadian Car of the Year by AJAC.
And 56 percent of survey respondents said the AJAC Canadian Car of the Year Award had a positive influence in the purchase decision.
CanadianBlackBook.com today released the results of its annual “Best Retained Value” winners across 19 vehicle categories.
Once again, Toyota continued its streak of awards, taking first in the small pickup (Toyota Tacoma) and full-size pickup (Toyota Tundra) segments for the fifth straight year; and for the fourth consecutive time in the mid-size SUV (Toyota FJ Cruiser) and full-size SUV (Toyota Sequoia) categories.
The awards track vehicle values over a four-year period, so this year’s set measures how well 2010 model-year vehicles have held their value through December 2013.
CanadianBlackBook.com names first-, second- and third-place “Best Retained Value” award winners in 19 popular car and truck categories.
Toyota’s Prius, Avalon, Tacoma, Tundra, FJ Cruiser, Sequoia and the Lexus GS, all posted first-place finishes.
Among domestics, Chrysler chalked up the best performance, with Jeep Wrangler winning compact SUV for the fourth straight year; and the Challenger winning in the sports car category for the third year in a row.
And two first-place finishes each by Porsche and Mercedes helped European manufacturers double the number of awards secured this year compared to 2013.
When asked why Toyota continues to do so well with retention rates, Josh Bailey, vice president, research and editorial at Canadian Black Book, said it comes down to the automaker’s reputation for quality — despite dealing with multiple recalls in the past five years.
“I think an element of it is certainly Toyota has a reputation for quality, I know they have been through a few recall situations lately … but I do think they handle those problems well,” Bailey said. “Talking to people who actually own the vehicles and take it out of the headline context, people walk away from the experience more confident than they were going into it because the automaker handles these issues so well.”
Toyota is also very careful not to over saturate their markets, which in turn leads to strong retention rates.
“I also think that there is a scarcity factor. When we look at several of the winners, they often tend to be lower volume. And comparing Tundras to the domestic pick-up trucks, certainly there is a scarcity factor there. And I think that keeps the values relatively strong. And Toyota doesn’t typically pour too much in the way of cash incentives on those trucks either,” Bailey explained.
CanadianBlackBook.com analysts explained that “consistency” is the theme for the 2014 awards.
On top of Toyota’s winning streak, Chrysler (Jeep Wrangler, compact SUV segment) , Honda (Honda Fit, subcompact car; and Honda Odyssey, minivan) and Subaru (Subaru Outback, mid-size car) also racked up repeat first-place finishes, all for at least three years running.
“Although CanadianBlackBook.com proclaims the winners, in effect, it’s the Canadian car buyer who decides who wins our Best Retained Value awards,” said Bailey. “In the end, it is consumer perceptions and how much they’re prepared to pay for cars and trucks that ultimately determines how much a vehicle is worth.”
The Outliers
Consistency was the name of the game this year around, but there were a couple of outliers among the award winners, as well.
One of these outliers continues to be the Toyota Prius, as most of its alternative-fuel counterparts continue to lose value.
The Toyota Prius won first place in the compact car category, with the Volkswagen Golf and Subaru Impreza following, respectively.
When asked why the Toyota Prius continues to stand out from its hybrid competitors, Bailey said, the fact that it stands on its own is a big plus for retention rates.
“I found that hybrids where they are unique product tend to stand out and do better in terms of retaining value. While ones that are more part of a comprehensive platform program, like Camry or Altima, they have hybrids as an element, but they tend to get washed away,” Bailey explained.
One of the reasons might also be price: when compared to the traditional fuel option, models like the Honda Civic Hybrid might get overlooked due to their higher price tags.
“When it comes to Altima and Camry, and anything else that has a hybrid option, they need to go after the volume of the price point of where people are buying. Most of the time, they hybrids sit just right above the common price point, so we don’t see people pursue those as strongly as something like a Prius,” Bailey said.
Another outlier this year is the following surprise winner: the Hummer H2, which delivered the highest retained value percentage of all vehicles for 2014.
It topped the list, retaining 71 percent of its original MRSP after four years of ownership.
“Its value actually increased last year, so it’s bit of an anomaly,” says Bailey. “The vehicle is now out of production which is contributing to its desirability.”
“It is remarkable when I see a Hummer H2 at auction, it is almost certainly going to draw a crowd, almost regardless of mileage, repair history, etc. I have a feeling that a lot of them are getting purchases and then shipped overseas,” Bailey said.
Scarcity may also be a playing a role.
“They were never sold in large volumes to begin with … but I think as they are leaving the market completely, it is creating a vacuum. There still seems to be enough people that want to be rolling around in their Hummer,” Bailey said.
European Automakers Double Award Wins
Lastly, Bailey touched on how the European brands managed to double their award count this year.
Though that only brings the European automakers up to four awards, it still represents a big jump from last year. The newcomer’s awards are due to a couple of new units becoming eligible this year.
“Because we are looking at 4-year-old vehicles, this is the first chance for the Porsche Panamera to show up on the list, so I think the volume is fairly small again versus the S Class, but there is still a demand in the used-car market,” Bailey said. “Comparing the 2010 and 2014, we might recognize the differences, but to the average Joe, he could probably pass it off as a new one.”
And for Mercedes-Benz, this was the first year the GLK was eligible, and it has done very well, says Bailey.
“It really is in high demand. There really isn’t a shortage of those, so the strong retention rates really speak to how many people are looking for these models in the used-car market,” he added.
A full listing of this year’s winners, along with previous winners can be found on CanadianBlackBook.com.
Hyundai Canada has announced its ‘number one’ dealer, choosing to recognize a Mississauga store for the dealership’s exceptional sales and fundraising performance in 2013.
The company is honoring Missisauga Hyundai, which led all Canadian Hyundai dealerships in sales and charity fundraising efforts.
The dealership sold 1,990 vehicles and raised $22,063 in support of the national Hyundai Hockey Helpers initiative.
Auto Remarketing Canada covered the initative earlier this year when the company was ramping up its fundraising efforts.
Click here to learn more about the program.
Hyundai of Mississauga was established in 1985.
And this isn’t the first time it’s been honored by the industry.
It has also recieved the Hyundai President Award of Merit, which recognized the top dealers nationally.
To learn more about Hyundai Canada’s top performing dealership, see the store’s website here: www.mississaugahyundai.com.
The company will be honoring the dealership during a press conference scheduled today, that will include the store’s dealer principle Nav Bhatia.
Mercedes-Benz Canada revealed this week its 2014 Star Dealers list.
These awards honor the top 10 authorized Mercedes-Benz dealers in Canada, “reinforcing the critical role that each dealership plays in the overall success of the Mercedes-Benz, AMG, smart and Sprinter brands in Canada,” the company explained.
The Star dealers are selected from the company's nationwide Canadian retail network.
“While every dealer represents the brand with the upmost pride and dedication, every year we identify the ten retailers that set the benchmark and truly exemplify our founding father's historic governing principle of providing our customers with the absolute best at every turn,” said Tim Reuss, president and chief executive officer of Mercedes-Benz Canada.
“I congratulate each one of our Star dealers, and thank them for their unwavering commitment to excellence. Our dealers remain a fundamental factor of our success, and I am extremely proud to be supported by such an outstanding retail network from coast-to-coast,” he continued.
Each recipient is determined based on their overall performance in five separate categories which include: new and pre-owned sales, service and parts, and customer satisfaction.
The award-winning dealers (from East to West) are as follows:
Patrick O'Regan, O'Regan Mercedes-Benz, Halifax, Nove Scotia
Jeff Mierins, Star Motors of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario
Peter Santos, Mercedes-Benz Peterborough, Peterborough, Ontario
Bentley Hammer, Mercedes-Benz Durham, Whitby, Ontario
Christopher Ko, Mercedes-Benz Markham, Markham, Ontario
Mark Dube, Mercedes-Benz Downtown, Toronto
Scott Douglas, Mercedes-Benz Maple, Maple, Ontario
Dr. Sylvester Chuang, Mercedes-Benz Oakville Autohaus, Oakville, Ontario
David Morris, David Morris Fine Cars, Edmonton, Alberta
Arnold Smith, Lone Star Inc., Calgary, Alberta
The 2013 Vinventric Best Value in Canada awards were recently released, with three brands, in particular, topping the charts.
First up, Toyota received its second consecutive award as Best Value Passenger Car Brand and picked up eight individual vehicle awards.
Mercedes-Benz dominated the luxury category, retaining its Best Value Luxury Brand title and also picking up five model-level awards.
Ram had a strong showing in the pickup market, earning the 2013 Vincentric Best Value Truck Brand in Canada award.
Another strong shower was Volkswagen, with six award winning vehicles in the passenger car segments.
Interestingly, Vincentric attributes much of this brand success to "the strength of their alternative fuel vehicles."
"The 2013 Vincentric Best Value in Canada awards demonstrates the significant impact that alternative fuel vehicles are having on the marketplace," stated David Wurster, president of Vincentric.
"We look forward to providing Canadian consumers with the opportunity to gather insight into Canadian specific automotive ownership costs by honoring vehicles that offer buyers the best overall value," he added.
For example, Toyota won four out of the five hybrid awards this year.
And on the luxury side of things Mercedes-Benz BlueTEC diesel technology provided the company with three winners, with Volkswagen's TDI clean diesels earning five awards, Vincentric reported.
Interestingly, the Ram pickup winners were also diesel-powered, as were two of the three Audi award winners.
To pick this year’s winners, the company analyzed more than 1,800 vehicle configurations measuring cost-of-ownership, using eight different cost factors: depreciation, fees and taxes, financing, fuel, insurance, maintenance, opportunity cost and repairs.
