Mercedes-Benz Canada has opened the doors to Mercedes me Store Markham, its newest retail space at the CF Markville shopping mall, the group announced Thursday.
The new store is designed to provide customers a new way to interact and experience the brand, Mercedes-Benz Canada said.
“People may be surprised to see Mercedes-Benz in a shopping center alongside more traditional retailers,” Mercedes-Benz Canada vice president and head of Toronto retail operations Philipp von Witzendorff said in a news release. “This is an exciting new opportunity for us to engage with people in new and unexpected ways.”
The 5,600 square foot store is located on the second level of CF Markville.
“We are thrilled to welcome the first Mercedes me Store in Ontario to CF Markville,” said Daryl Clemance, general manager of CF Markville. “With Markham being an automotive hub in the Greater Toronto Area, we could not be more excited to introduce this new category as part of our retail mix.”
The new store will operate as a satellite location for nearby Mercedes-Benz Markham, ran by Mercedes-Benz product advisers.
“We are excited about this new touch-point to reach our customers and fans of our brand," added von Witzendorff.
“It's designed to be a welcoming place for people to informally stop by and check out the latest models, ask questions, or just browse items from the Mercedes-Benz Collection as part of their shopping trip at CF Markville. Ultimately, we are trying to evolve our offering to meet people where they are and fit within their lifestyle,” he explained.
Additionally, Mercedes me Store Markham will sell select items from the Mercedes-Benz Collection and display five to six of its latest vehicles, according to Mercedes-Benz Canada.
Porsche Cars Canada recently announced the opening of Porsche Centre Kelowna, the company’s 18th Porsche Centre in Canada and fourth in British Columbia.
Porsche Centre Kelowna has over 22,000 square feet of floor space and features a nine-vehicle showroom, a customer delivery area, a six-bay workshop and a private direct-dialogue service bay, according to Porsche Cars Canada.
“The Okanagan region of British Columbia has been enjoying a growing number of Porsche customers and fans for a number of years,” Porsche Cars Canada president and chief executive officer Alexander Pollich said in a news release announcing the opening.
“We are therefore happy to now be able to give back to them by inaugurating a long-awaited Porsche Centre in Kelowna,” he said.
Porsche Centre Kelowna is located at 888 Finns Road in Kelowna, British Columbia.
HGregoire officially opened two new Nissan dealerships in Quebec this week, raising its new-car dealer count to seven. The group also owns 12 stores that specialize in pre-owned Nissans.
The new Nissan stores added to its lineup are HGregoire Nissan Vimont, and HGregoire Nissan Chomedey, both of which are located in Laval, Quebec.
The group hosted tours of the new stores for partners, stakeholders and media. Attendees included Nissan executives who were there for the festivities on Thursday.
HGregoire said these new dealerships will be some of the the first stores in the country with Nissan’s new brand image.
“We are delighted to be here to celebrate and welcome our two new Nissan dealerships to the HGregoire family,” HGregoire president John Hairabedian said in a news release.
“The new Nissan brand image is a perfect fit for the redefined and modern experience that HGregoire offers its customers. I am proud of the company that my father founded 25 years ago. We will continue to grow and, with the help of partners like Nissan, to deliver an exceptional experience to our clients that is based on their needs,” he said.
The retailer invested a total of $50 million in the stores, each of which are 85,000-square-feet (land and building combined) and include 16 service bays plus a 350- to 400-vehicle outdoor lot.
In addition to play areas for children of customers, the stores include comfortable waiting rooms and design centers for shoppers to personalize their car through a tablet.
“We know that people already have enough stress in their daily lives,” HGregoire Nissan president and general manager Jimmy Gioia said in a news release.
“We are committed to changing the way people think about and experience the purchase of a new vehicle,” he said. “We know our customers are tech-savvy. Our design centre incorporates technology that takes the guesswork out of choosing options and selecting a car that meets each customer's unique needs.”
Nissan Canada president Joni Paiva added in the release: “We have come in full force tonight to show our appreciation to the HGregoire family and their accomplishments. Nissan values their business model, and we look forward to seeing their success grow in the NREDI 2.0 environment,
“It’s fitting that this auspicious occasion celebrating our new dealership's visual signature is hosted by HGregoire's vibrant and innovative management team,” Paiva said.
The used-car operations of AutoCanada showed softness in the second quarter, but the dealer group showed some overall lifts in its quarter results, including gains in total revenue and gross profits.
AutoCanada said in its latest earnings release that it retailed 5,061 used vehicles in the second quarter, which was a 5-percent year-over-year decrease.
Used-car revenue fell 12.1 percent to $182.9 million, with used sales grabbing a 20.4-percent share of total revenue, down from 24.6 percent a year earlier.
Used-car sales represented a 9.1-percent share of gross profit, off from 10.2 percent in Q2 of 2016.
Looking at overall results, AutoCanada pulled in revenues of $894.9 million, up 6.3 percent year-over-year. Gross profits climbed 6.8 percent to $143.8 million.
“Management has undertaken several significant steps over the last number of months toward achieving our strategic goals of broadening our brand portfolio and our geographic footprint,” AutoCanada president and chief executive officer Steven Landry said in a news release.
“We added Alfa Romeo to our brand profile April of this year. The acquisition of Mercedes-Benz Rive-Sud in Montreal not only adds the Mercedes-Benz and Smart brands, but also provides us with a facility in full compliance with brand image standards, adds 28 service bays and is one of only three authorized Mercedes-Benz collision centres in Quebec,” he said.
“We are very pleased with the early results from this store and will continue to pursue similar opportunities in other markets while our discussions continue to enhance our various OEM relationships,” Landry said. “In short, we are very committed to organic year-over-year margin growth at our existing stores while generating incremental growth through smart accretive acquisitions. While we have set high performance dealership goals for ourselves, our Q2 operating profit performance is an example of having a strong focus on margin improvement.”
In the news release, chief financial officer Chris Burrows added: “There were a number of encouraging signs for the Company this quarter. New-vehicle sales were up as was revenue from parts, service and collision repair. We continue to focus on managing costs at both the store and corporate level, and that contributed to an improvement in operating profit.
“While the gains have been incremental to date, they speak to the success of our broader strategy of maintaining operational excellence, continuously managing costs, and capturing market share through accretive acquisitions.”
Corey Stone, general manager of Fairway Honda — a Steele Auto Group store — says being part of a well-known dealer group has been very beneficial for the store. The dealership, which has been in business over 25 years, has been a part of Steele Auto for about two years now.
“The biggest benefit is inventory management,” Stone said. “It’s really about inventory. Access to inventory.
“And we find it’s beneficial for being up-to-date, problem solving, reporting. It certainly helps us manage the used-car department and the entire store as a whole,” said Stone.
Reputation is key, as well.
And the stats back it up. The store has generally been able to secure 75 percent of its used cars from customer retention and trade-ins. When asked how his store secures such high customer loyalty rates, Stone had this to say, with a laugh: “We sell Hondas.”
But in all honesty, the dealer says for the last few months he has depended on the factory remarketing programs, such as a partnership with Enterprise, to secure enough quality used inventory for his pre-owned lot.
“We partnered with the local rep from these programs and have been able to secure some good inventory from them, as well,” said Stone. “So, we have been using some of those avenues to beef up our inventory and to get us the off-brand inventory that we are looking for.”
The dealership also works with Steele Auto Group through an internal dealer group wholesale program, which Stone said has made “a significant and positive impact on sales.”
“It allows us to buy certain products that we might need, specific to customers and customer requests, or just what we believe will sell if one store is overstocked or has some leases they don’t want,” Stone added.
Dwight Brown, used-car manager at Fairway Honda, told Auto Remarketing Canada that before Steele Auto took over, Fairway Honda was known on the used side of things as “a Honda store.”
Fairway Honda had lots of customers looking for pre-owned Hondas, but what about the guests in the market for a different nameplate or model?
“What we’ve done in the last couple of years and that we are still striving to do with our marketing and such is really diversify and offer people a full complement of inventory of all brands, makes, models; not just Honda,” said Brown. ”And so we are seeing quite a bit of success there. We are getting a lot of late-model vehicles, whether it’s Ford, Dodge, Chevy, and really trying to expand our presence in the market with much more diversity of high-quality vehicles.”
Lastly, Honda provides a customer retention plan that works to bring customers back into Fairway Honda, as well.
“But we also have to make sure we create great experience to capture those customers and get those customers back and have the inventory we need to reach our goals,” Stone said.
Fairway Honda is particularly careful to find quality used vehicles as it promotes the Honda factory CPO program at its store.
“We love CPO here. We find it’s an easy transition for us. With our Honda brand, we are probably certifying 50 percent of our used inventory,” Stone said. “And that’s been very good for resale confidence with the customer. We enjoy it, we like it, and we find we close deals because of it.”
At the core of used and CPO sales for Fairway Honda are the Honda Civic and Honda CRV. The store finds that trucks do particularly well, too.
“If we have an Odyssey van or if we have a Honda Pilot — these products never sit on our lots for very long. They are in high demand, and hard to find,” Stone added.
As for why customers keep coming back to Fairway Honda, from a manufacturing point of view, is that store is the only Honda dealership in the market area.
“Our programs are solid. We are very competitive,” said Stone. “On the people side, I would think we have great staff. One of the goals of our store is our managers; we definitely are pushing for that customer experience. It’s the number one priority in our store. Creating the best customer experience possible.”
The store is also very “process driven” — they try to follow the same process for each customer, to build value in the “Fairway Honda experience.”
“I spend a lot of time as a GM making sure that the atmosphere and morale in our store stands up to par, so that when someone enters our store there's a great vibe, there’s a great feeling and friendly environment,” Stone said.
“Everyone tries to do that, but I believe we do it consistently,” he added.
The Newfoundland and Labrador-based dealership is also in the middle of building a new facility.
“This is something that we will really try to leverage because we are in a smaller store now trying to accommodate a large customer base,” Stone said. “Our customers are excited, too.”
Fairway Honda plans to open the doors at its new location this September.
Mercedes-Benz Canada recently announced that Groupe Park Avenue automobile consortium acquired Mercedes-Benz de Quebec, the dealer group’s second Mercedes-Benz franchise purchase.
Groupe Park Avenue acquired its Silver Star Montreal dealership just last year.
The group purchased Mercedes-Benz de Quebec from Chatel Automobiles Ltee, which operated the dealership for almost six decades.
Maurice Parent, owner of Chatel Automobiles Ltee, moved the dealership to its current location in 1974.
"We are fortunate to be taking on a dealership with a proven track record — Maurice and his team deserve our recognition and our gratitude. They are starting us off on the strongest possible footing as we undertake further expansion in a competitive market," Groupe Park Avenue president and chief executive officer Norman Hebert said in a news release.
"A well-respected presence in the community, a solid team in place and the brand's unprecedented successes in this market made acquiring Mercedes-Benz de Quebec a sound business decision for Groupe Park Avenue."
The Mercedes-Benz dealer recognition program has recognized Parent as a "Star Dealer" 15 times. Parent began selling the Mercedes-Benz brand in the mid-1960s, according to Mercedes-Benz Canada.
"Mercedes-Benz Canada welcomed Norman Hebert to the dealer network last year, when Groupe Park Avenue acquired Silver Star Montreal. Since then, the dealership's success is a testament to the skill and expertise of Norman and his team," Mercedes-Benz Canada president and chief executive officer Brian Fulton said in the release.
"I'd also like to take a moment to acknowledge the important legacy Maurice Parent has built over the past sixty years. His hard work and unwavering dedication to the brand have been truly remarkable. He has been a real credit to this organization, a true pioneer, and Mercedes-Benz Canada's other dealers join me in wishing him all the best," he said.
There will be no significant staff changes at Mercedes-Benz de Quebec, according to Mercedes-Benz Canada.
Tommy Caron, the dealership’s general manager, will continue to manage the dealership.
Like many Canadian auto dealers, a hurdle that Mississauga Toyota has faced in the used-car market has been finding the right supply of pre-owned vehicles and at the right price to keep healthy margins.
But another used-car dynamic shared by dealer principal Susan Gubasta poses as both a blessing and a challenge.
That being the technology that permeates the business of both searching for and buying vehicles.
In a July phone interview, Gubasta said that technology can make things easier; However, “it also hurts you because not only are you being compared to the guy down the street, you’re being compared to somebody a hundred miles away.”
Then again, the flip side of that is that the same type of technology can help the store find cars and find customers.
“We rarely go out physically to auctions anymore. We’re typically buying all of our cars online, and also sourcing our cars through our business — so through our service drive-through and through our trade-ins,” she said.
On the marketing front, the dealership now does completely online advertising, having stopped paper advertising six years ago.
“We have customers as far away as North Bay coming to buy used vehicles because we have exactly what it is they’re looking for,” Gubasta said. “So, as I say, it helps, but it can also be more challenging to sell cars, because if I’ve got 10 Corollas sitting on my lot and somebody else has three sitting on their lot and they’re just down the street, and that customer wants it because they have it in blue, they might not have seen that elsewhere without technology unless they drive all over the place nowadays.”
Gubasta says the idea to go completely online with advertising was spurred when she attended a digitally driven automotive conference in Florida years ago.
“When I came back, I just had this epiphany that everything they were talking about was that we have all the tools, they’re at our fingertips, we need to start using them. People are already using them. And this shift had already started to occur in the U.S. Now, the Canadian market is a few years behind,” but, Gubasta said, she wanted to be among the first and get ahead of the curve.
Not that it was easy; the store actually lost managers in making this move, she said.
“They didn’t believe in my vision, but it didn’t hurt our business at all,” Gubasta said. “And we were more effective in terms of how we spent our advertising, our marketing dollars.”
Advertising isn’t the only part of the business Mississauga Toyota does online. It has had an online parts store since March; Gubasta says it’s not a huge part of their business but is continually growing.
And in May, the dealership began to allow customers to buy cars online from the store, without having to leave home.
“Everything that we try, everything that we shift toward is because we’re listening to what our guests are asking and what they’re saying,” Gubasta said.
A “small percentage” of customers want to take care of business from home.
Gubasta said: “We listened to what our guests were saying, because we realized that maybe they don’t even have the time to come see us,” and perhaps they have already driven that car or a similar one.
In the first two months of offering completely online sales — which, according to the store’s website, offers delivery — Mississauga sold four cars online and then 10 in June.
“So, I think it’s very telling. I don’t know that it’s going to be a huge part of our business,” Gubasta said, “but again you have to listen to what everybody is saying and take that into consideration, in terms of coming up with processes and how you deal, because every guest is unique.”
It’s a family matter at Hanover Honda in Ontario. Store president Larry Lantz runs the store alongside sons Rob (general manager) and Dave (sales manager).
And the advantage to having family around?
“Well, they’re very knowledgeable, but they work for peanuts,” Larry Lantz said with a laugh.
“No, the family works for less money to make the store successful, and they have since the beginning,” he said during a phone interview with Auto Remarketing Canada in July. “We all do, actually. Because we can make those sacrifices to make the store successful. And we’ve done very well over the last 10 years.”
Family can also contribute to the culture of the store.
“Well, we’re all on the same wavelength. We talk a lot outside of the store as well. But we’re all focused on customer satisfaction. The boys were trained since they were very, very young on how to work in a car dealership and how to look after a customer, and that’s what the business is all about today: the customer experience,” Lantz said.
Lantz purchased the store, which had been Town and Country Honda, in 2007.
Since then, he estimates, used-car volumes have likely tripled. But Lantz also notes that a big challenge is getting the right supply of used cars, particularly high-quality, late-model rides.
So how have they increased used-car sales amid such a challenge?
He said with new-car sales climbing, they’ve been able to generate more trade-ins.
“Also, Honda markets lease returns through an online process, so we step up and buy those whenever we can,” he said.
The dealership also turns to buying cars off the street from consumers who wish to sell.
Used cars, in general, are a big part of Hanover Honda’s operations, Lantz said. Think of the dealership like a “four-cylinder engine,” consisting of new cars, used cars, parts and service.
If one of those cylinders goes awry, “the car will sputter and end up pulling to the side of the road,” he said.
“So we need to make sure that all our different businesses within our business are successful,” Lantz said. “So used cars are very important to our business, not only just the profit that we make selling a used car, but also the service and parts that it generates.”
Speaking of service, the dealership’s website includes a service video gallery of YouTube clips from the automaker explaining common questions customers may have about various Honda vehicles.
For instance, “how to use Honda’s audio system” and “how to use the climate controls on Honda’s display audio system.”
There are also videos, for example, on removing second-row seats in the Odyssey.
“We’re trying to provide value to our clients. People sometimes don’t want to just phone in and ask questions, because they think they’re maybe asking a dumb question or something,” Lantz said. “So, if there’s anything we can do to simplify the process on our website, then we’re trying to do that.”
Porsche Cars Canada recently moved its corporate headquarters to a new facility in Toronto that will also house the company’s first training center for personnel nationwide.
The company's former head office had been in Mississauga since 2009.
“Our new Canadian headquarters now incorporate a dedicated training facility, which will enhance the level of service we provide to our dealer personnel, further supporting the brand’s commitment to the Canadian market and customers,” said Porsche Cars Canada president and chief executive officer Alexander Pollich in a news release.
The training center is for Porsche Centre personnel across Canada and will feature two work bays, according to the company.
“We are thrilled to move to our new home in Toronto,” added Pollich.
At the northeast corner of highways 401 and 404, Porsche Cars’ new headquarters also sits on the same site as the new Porsche Centre North Toronto, which recently opened and is the 17th Porsche Centre in the country and fourth in the Toronto area.
Porsche Centre North Toronto has a showroom that can fit 26 cars.
Additionally, the new store will have two customer delivery areas and a 17-bay workshop.
Treat your used and certified pre-owned vehicle customers the same way you treat your new-car customers. This seems to be a recurring theme at dealerships that sell certified vehicles. And the case is much the same at Toronto’s Lexus Downtown.
But the luxury dealership that has been in business since 2011 takes it a step further, says general manager Christopher Lina.
Lina told Auto Remarketing Canada the store has an indoor pre-owned showroom that holds more than 50 Lexus CPO vehicles.
How does this help the dealership secure used sales? Well, when customers enter the pre-owned showroom, they are often confused, said Lina. They automatically think the cars are new.
“It’s on a different floor than the new cars, but everything looks like a brand-new showroom and new vehicles, mostly because of the stringent CPO specs,” said Lina. “It’s not like an outdoor used-car lot where there is dust, dirt and more. These vehicles are pristine and look like they just came off a car from Japan.”
At Lexus Downtown, 70 percent of the used cars at the dealership are certified — at a minimum.
As for how the dealership’s staff treats CPO guests, Lina says sometimes pre-owned guests need even a bit more attention than new buyers.
“People are sometimes nervous about getting a pre-owned vehicle because of the history,” said Lina. “They really want to make sure they are getting the best bang for their buck.”
Naturally, when a guest comes in for a new vehicle, they know they are getting a full warranty — and the price is not going to differ very much from one dealer to another.
“But every pre-owned vehicle is unique,” said Lina, which makes presentation and service even more important.
“There are no two pre-owned vehicles that are the same, and when you can highlight that a vehicle has no scratches, looks brand new and it’s pre-owned, that right away gives them huge confidence that this is the right purchase decision,” said Lina.
What are the best sellers in the dealership’s pre-owned showroom? That would definitely be the brand’s SUVs — the Lexus RX and the Lexus NX.
“These are by far our best-selling CPO vehicles consistently,” said Lina. “SUVs have definitely taken over the market. I’m not sure what you drive, but I don’t see any more households that don’t own an SUV.”
Taking customer service to next level
Customer retention is key for Lexus Downtown. In fact, more than 75 percent of their used inventory is directly tied to the flow of lease returns and early terminations of leases.
“Our success is tied to the ability to take these customers and get them out early of their current lease, put them into a new car, and then obviously take the vehicle they are dropping off and market it in our pre-owned department,” Lina said.
“We then turn more of these vehicles into CPO inventory, which makes everybody happy. Sales guys are happy; service guys are happy,” Lina added.
The service department plays a huge role in ensuring customer loyalty in any dealership, but at Lexus Downtown, Lina said it is particularly important.
“One of the most important things to us is the constant communication. I mean we don’t bombard customers or anything like that, but we are definitely in touch with them, whether it be digitally or by phone, at least quarterly.”
If the customer is in a good position to get out of their current lease or vehicle and get into a newer car with a similar payment, Lina said, “We’re all over it.”
Of course, the service and sales departments are very connected. Lina explained the dealership gives any customers that come in the service department the opportunity to sit down with either a salesperson or a sales manager to review where their lease and financing stands, and give them the chance to look at new vehicles.
Lina says ultimately, customer service to the dealership means differentiating itself from other Lexus stores in the country by “exceeding customer expectations.”
And this isn’t easy.
“There’s not one Lexus store that I would say performs at a level of mediocrity. To have a Lexus franchise, you are basically at a level of where expectation is more than 100 percent. And how do you separate yourself?” asked Lina. “It’s very difficult.”
One of the most obvious areas where Lexus Downtown pushes the envelope on customer expectations is their concierge service.
The dealership doesn’t wait for their guests to come into the service department — they offer to pick up their cars for them, and they will then drop a loaner vehicle off at their home, as well.
“We will bring their vehicle in here, we will service their vehicle, get it washed, spic and span, and bring it back to their home or their office,” said Lina. “We want the experience of service here to be seamless. They don’t even have to come here.”
The flexibility of Lexus Downtown’s concierge service can be particularly important to Toronto’s high-powered business men and women.
The dealership picks customers up when it’s convenient for them — not just when the vehicle is ready.
“When the vehicle is ready, maybe our customers aren’t ready, and we say, ‘‘No problem,’” Lina said.
Some of their guests make it a regular thing. They go on business trips, bring their vehicle in for service, and then get dropped off at the airport. A couple of days later, a Lexus Downtown rep is at the airport again to greet them and take them to their newly serviced vehicle.
“We are saving them money on limo service going to the airport, and they remember it,” said Lina. “And what they do is say, ‘Ok, when is our next trip? Well I’m just going to schedule our service in August. That way we can get a free ride to the airport and back.”
The key: They tell everybody about it, too. Word-of-mouth, plus an impressive Google Review standing (4.7 out of five points) helps Lexus Downtown grab even more customers out of the luxury pool.
“Every delivery we do, anyone who comes in for service, anybody who visits us, we say, ‘Listen, I hope your experience went very well, and if you have the time, please leave a Google review about us, good or bad,” said Lina. “It’s just how the world works now.”
