Category: Editor’s note

Meet the new editor!

June 3, 2022

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 …

Life is between the dash

April 29, 2022

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?

March 28, 2022

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 …

No Groundhog Day here

December 24, 2021

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

October 25, 2021

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. …

Avoid painful toe stubs

September 24, 2021

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 …

Beating the odds

The CADA Laureate winners featured in this issue are truly deserving of the award, and now join the ranks of a group of dealers who are legends in our industry. It’s tough to become a CADA Laureate. Really tough. Only …

The show must go on

We write a lot about succession in the pages of Canadian auto dealer — including this issue’s cover story. That’s because the core audience of our magazine consists of dealer principals, who think a lot about these issues. And other …

Fixing fixed ops

New and used vehicle sales in Canada will always fluctuate, and there’s not much dealers can do about it. Even the most agile dealership, with the best marketing outreach and customer retention strategies, will experience events that nip into the …

The show does go on

You have to give the auto industry a lot of credit for trying. For an industry that prides itself on big-scale events, dramatic new vehicle launches, massive trade shows and conferences like the NADA Show and SEMA, and more recently …

Overdue change is coming

February 4, 2021

Cars aren’t the only things with blind spots. We all have them. As we go about our daily lives, focused intently on the things demanding our immediate attention, many of us miss the most obvious things happening around us. Consider …

Here we go again…

December 8, 2020

Just as people in the auto industry were starting to use the past tense to describe their experience with the pandemic, outbreaks of COVID-19 have sprung up across the country, and in some ways we are now back to where …