AutoCanada said Tuesday it has spread to western Manitoba, purchasing Kelleher Ford in Brandon.
The store, which also includes a collision center, is western Manitoba’s largest Ford dealership.
Current management will remain.
“This high-quality operation is our second Ford dealership and initiates our presence in western Manitoba — an attractive truck market, while providing the opportunity to further expand our presence in the market,” AutoCanada executive chairman Paul Antony said in a news release.
“We are pleased to welcome the team from Kelleher Ford, and we look forward to many opportunities for continued growth as we integrate them into our strong portfolio of dealerships,” Antony said.
Just before 2021 closed, the Automotive Properties Real Estate Investment Trust said it had signed a $23.4 million deal with a dealership group to buy the Sherbrooke Honda and Magog Honda properties in Quebec.
Additionally, the REIT exercised its Right of First Refusal and signed a deal to buy roughly 2.15 acres of land in Langley, British Columbia (located at 20257 Langley Bypass) from a third party, which it said is “subject to a land lease paid by the operator of the Acura Langley dealership, an affiliate of the Dilawri Group, and an existing tenant of the REIT.”
The maturity date on the land lease is June 30 and the price for the land was about $15.1 million.
“The acquisition of the Sherbrooke Honda and Magog Honda properties will increase our footprint in Quebec and expand our relationships with leading dealership groups,” Milton Lamb, who is president and chief executive officer of the REIT, said in a news release.
“The transaction involving Acura Langley enables us to consolidate ownership of the land and building and the related leases, thereby further enhancing the value of our property portfolio in the Greater Vancouver Area.”
Both deals are expected to close this month.
Mercedes-Benz Canada is divesting all of its corporate-owned dealerships in the Greater Toronto Area, the company said Tuesday.
Taking on ownerships of the dealerships, which are collectively referred to as the Toronto Retail Group, are the AWIN Group of Dealerships and Zanchin Automotive Group.
AWIN and Zanchin are teaming up for the new ownership group, which will jointly own all the TRG dealerships. The group will determine the specific management structure at each of the stores, upon completion of the ownership transfer.
“We are excited that the AWIN and Zanchin teams have come together to further strengthen their connection to Mercedes-Benz in Canada,” Mercedes-Benz Canada president and chief executive officer Eva Wiese said in a news release.
“This move will allow Mercedes-Benz Canada to focus its efforts and resources on supporting a strong, independent national dealer network that includes the Toronto Retail Group — a network that can act with even more speed and agility to deliver the highest level of customer experience,” Wiese said
“We know that the AWIN/Zanchin group will continue to represent the three-pointed star with distinction, while benefiting greatly from the incredible team of Toronto Retail Group employees. Mercedes-Benz Canada truly looks forward to establishing this next chapter with AWIN/Zanchin in the months and years to come as we introduce Canadians to the next wave of incredible Mercedes-Benz vehicles.”
TRG includes the following dealerships:
- Mercedes-Benz Downtown
- Mercedes-Benz Markham
- Mercedes-Benz Thornhill
- Mercedes-Benz Maple
- Mercedes-Benz Maple Van Centre
- Mercedes-Benz Midtown
- Mercedes-Benz Mississauga
- Mercedes-Benz Mississauga Van Centre
- Mercedes-Benz Etobicoke
Joe Zanchin is founder and CEO of Zanchin Automotive Group.
In the release, he said: “This is an incredible moment for myself, my family and our executive team. I could not be prouder of the Zanchin Automotive Group and the growing partnership with Mercedes-Benz Canada, a brand that represents the very best in engineering, quality, and performance. I welcome our new Mercedes-Benz stores, our new customers and most importantly our new employees who will continue to put our customers first.”
Sylvester Chuang, co-founder and chairman at AWIN Group of Dealerships, added: ““As quoted by Disney, all of our dreams can come true, if we have the courage to pursue them. We are incredibly excited to achieve our dream of an expanded partnership with the Mercedes-Benz family. We are passionate about our automotive business and with the trust of Mercedes-Benz, this great opportunity is allowing us to expand our AWIN dealership family. We will work closely with Mercedes-Benz Canada to continue delivering the world-class customer experience everyone expects from the three-pointed star, as well as AWIN's philosophy of putting people first.”
AutoVerify is looking to assist dealerships that have vehicles in inventory already equipped with satellite radio make those units more appealing to potential buyers.
This week, the marketing firm powered by Mobials launched AutoVerify Spotlight, a new product aimed to help dealers improve their digital merchandising efforts.
With five more components to come, the first feature stems from a new partnership between AutoVerify and SiriusXM that can help dealers highlight the unique features of vehicles in their inventory, including SiriusXM’s availability and trial term offered with the vehicle.
AutoVerify Spotlight automatically can integrate with a dealer’s AutoVerify tools and highlights extra information that consumers want to know about a vehicle. In its current form, Spotlight showcases SiriusXM on store VDPs.
AutoVerify pointed out that consumers do not always know if a vehicle comes with a free trial subscription to SiriusXM until they speak directly with a dealer. This new Spotlight makes it clear to at-home shoppers which vehicles are equipped for SiriusXM and therefore eligible for a trial subscription, as well as the length of that trial.
By adding this to the vehicle descriptions on dealer websites, AutoVerify explained that it is providing its dealer customers with another way to simplify the remote pre-purchase research process.
Not only does this Spotlight potentially improve the vehicle-shopping journey for consumers, AutoVerify noted that it can also can add value to the vehicle purchase by giving consumers access to SiriusXM’s 140+ channels of ad-free music, comedy, sports, news, talk and entertainment.
Plus, consumers can use their trial on the go or at home by streaming through the SiriusXM App.
“We’re excited about our new partnership with AutoVerify and the ability to make it even easier for car buyers to start experiencing SiriusXM,” said Mike Mazgay, vice president of automotive remarketing and dealer operations at SiriusXM Canada.
“Knowing about our free trial is the first step and Spotlight allows us to make that happen, giving customers access to all of our unparalleled audio entertainment,” Mazgay continued.
AutoVerify president Marty Meadows added, “Everybody wins with this partnership. The car buyer gets instant access to information and the dealer generates high quality leads.
“And the best part? Spotlight is free for all new and used automotive dealerships,” Meadows went on to say.
AutoVerify highlighted that additional Spotlights will be introduced over the next few months, including:
● Warranty and insurance
● Vehicle features (safety, entertainment)
● Vehicle highlights (good value, low mileage)
● Vehicle awards and ratings
● OEM rebates and incentives
AutoVerify’s suite of digital retailing tools is designed to generate highly converting leads by answering the questions potential buyers ask during their pre-purchase research.
By giving customers information about their trade-in value, insurance prices, credit profile, payment options and allowing them to apply for financing online, dealers can better support Canadian consumers as they spend more time researching from home.
Existing customers will automatically receive this free product and can opt-out at any time. New customers looking to access AutoVerify Spotlight feature are encouraged to go to www.autoverify.com.
