Products must continually evolve to remain relevant to the changing needs of their customers. Ideally, product designers will anticipate those needs and stay a few steps ahead of their customers. This is true of all products — including magazines.
When we launched Canadian auto dealer more than a decade ago, electric and autonomous vehicles, along with changing business models for consumers to access mobility were really not part of the business landscape.
Today they are, and we are meeting that change head on.
Canadian auto dealer has always strived to bring you columnists whose expertise and experience can help you better guide your businesses. Our roster of regular contributors include many of Canada’s leading industry figures, including Chuck Seguin, David Adams, Gerry Malloy, Blair Qualey, Richard Cooper and more. We are fiercely proud of our association with our contributors, and proud to provide a platform where they can share their ideas.
We’re also pleased to announce the addition of two new contributors to our magazine that have remarkably broad experience in what many of us consider to be still-emerging areas.
Simon Ouellette is CEO of ChargeHub/Mogile Technologies Inc. He is one of the leading figures in the rapidly evolving EV space, and has worked with automakers, dealerships, governments, and utilities and infrastructure providers in both Canada and the U.S. Simon’s new column aims to help dealers grow their bottom lines as EV market penetration increases.
You may or may not believe EVs will make a significant dent in your market. From my most recent participation in industry events across Eastern Canada, it’s clear many remain skeptical. I often hear attendees mention: “It won’t happen here”, or “We’re not urban enough,” or “We’re a truck market.”
I, for one, do believe EVs will make a tremendous dent in the market. But whether you do or not, Simon’s views are important to consider.
Our other contributor is James Carter, Principal Consultant of Vision Mobility — a Toronto-based consultancy that is guiding automotive businesses through coming changes in mobility models. I feel like I should know how Fair, Driveitaway, FlexDrive, Clutch and Ridecell are similar and how they differ. I should be more familiar with what Cox Automotive and Penske are doing with subscription platforms and what they’ve learned so far.
I’m no expert. Happily, James is. He’s joined our team to share that expertise with Canada’s dealers so we can all understand the disruptive potential and business opportunities coming from new mobility models. Are you an “optimistic opportunist”? James thinks you should be.
Change is coming, and both Simon and James have been in discussions where much of that change is being considered, planned, and executed. Let’s hear what they have to say.
Welcome, Simon. Welcome, James. You’re joining a great team, and we are hungry to learn what you know.
