As I write my last publisher’s note of the year, I’d like to clear out some odds and ends I thought worth highlighting. Back together again I’d like to thank the provincial dealer associations across the country for their commitment …
Over the last six months or so, we’ve seen the economic outlook go from strong to not strong. The expectation now is that we’re facing a recession through 2023. I thought it might be worth a slightly deeper look at …
As we, as a society, emerge from the pandemic, and we, as an industry, see glimmers of the end of historic supply shortages, I’m doing a bit of a slow emergence myself, from behind the scenes to being a more …
When it comes to making key decisions, it’s always an interesting question: does someone with years (or decades) of industry experience rely on their “gut” instinct or numbers in a spreadsheet to make a decision? Dealers have to make key …
For the first time in a few years, I’m looking at a very active in-person fall event schedule. Face to face with peers, thought leaders and influencers. I’m very excited about it. A number of key Canadian events are taking …
Every so often, you hear a term or phrase used often enough that it penetrates your consciousness. Like, “tech stack.” At Universus, we were doing an analysis of our own tech stack, to see if our tools were suitable for …
Over many years and many roles, I’ve had the chance to collaborate and commiserate with a remarkable list of professionals, partners and friends. I’d like to take a moment to recognize three of those people. Two of them played pivotal …
Some of you might have seen a news story in our e-news announcing that Stephanie MacDonald was named the new editor of Canadian auto dealer. I was really touched when the head of one of Canada’s largest dealer groups reached …
How much Canadians use their vehicles is a strong predictor of revenue opportunities in both vehicle sales and fixed operations. Particularly fixed operations. Dealers know that all too well. At a time when inventories are basically non-existent, the need to …
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 …
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, …
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 …
