Friday 26 August 2016

Ideal Honda celebrates new location

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Toyotoshi Group Canada marked the official grand opening of the new home of Ideal Honda in Mississauga, Ont. on Aug. 17, 2016.
Located on the northeast corner of Dixie Road and Canada's busiest highway, the 401, it's a short distance from its previous location.
The move was years in the making - intended to improve customer experience and grow the business.
"In designing this new dealership the vision was to create a very open space allowing customers to see through the facility and feel very comfortable doing business here. The showroom is large enough to display the ever growing lineup of products: the 2016 North American Car of the Year, the Honda Civic, the totally redesigned 2017 Ridgeline, as well as an all-new 5-door Civic and fully redesigned CR-V that will arrive later this year," said Jerry Chenkin, President & CEO of Honda Canada Inc., during the opening ceremony.
Dignitaries such as Bonnie Crombie, Mayor of Mississauga, former Mayor Hazel McCallion, and Mario Toyotoshi, Chief Experience Officer, Toyotoshi Group Canada, also attended.
In an exclusive interview with Canadian auto dealer, Chenkin added, "Customers are expecting more and more from the dealership experience. And this dealership epitomizes what customers expect… For Honda and Acura you're going to see dealerships renovating right now. Our dealers are telling us the exterior of the dealership still looks very contemporary, but the interiors now need to be totally upgraded. Dealers are asking us to support their upgrade in design, which is what we're doing. It's great to see dealers investing in customer-focused activities."
That's exactly what Ideal Honda has done.
The 29,000 sq.ft. facility includes a state-of-the-art shop that's geared to enhance customer experience. The new layout is an open-air concept with service and sales incorporated on one floor in a welcoming, contemporary design.
Large windows and glass offices in the showroom and service areas give customers a view of all working areas, including the service bays. Honda's first lean service area in Canada also provides more maintenance services than a traditional express service, while reducing wait times and improving quality of service.
After the official ribbon cutting ceremony, there was a sake ceremony, and a performance by Japanese dance group, Sakuramai Toronto. Toyotoshi Group Canada operates three stores in Mississauga and two stores in Quebec.

by: canadianautodealer.ca


Ideal Honda Celebrates New Location............................. www.redlineautosales.ca/ideal-honda-celebrates-new-location.htm

Friday 19 August 2016

Dixie Toyota celebrates grand opening with Japanese flare


Dixie-Toyota-Grand-Opening-2-650It was a long time coming but Dixie Toyota was finally able to open the doors to its new home at 1600 Toyo Circle in Mississauga, Ont.
"To be able to open these doors after seven years is a very special feeling," said Mario Toyotoshi, Chief Experience Officer of Toyotoshi Group Canada, in an interview with Canadian auto dealer.
The dealership celebrated the grand opening of its new facility on Aug. 16 with much fanfare, weaving in elements of traditional Japanese customs.
Special guests were welcomed into the new 37,000 sq.ft. facility with valet service and were also treated to gourmet food, which included sushi, and other entertainment.
Larry Hutchinson, President & CEO of Toyota Canada, Ambassador Naoyuki Toyotoshi, Councillor Carolyn Parish for the city of Mississauga, and Hazel McCallion, former mayor of the city of Mississauga, also attended the event.
The grand opening ceremony began and concluded with performances from the Nagata Shachu drummers, and also included a special sake ceremony, in which several of the dignitaries and executives donned traditional jackets and collectively opened a casket of sake.
Guests were also able to tour the new facility, which provides all services on one floor.
Though the new facility is only a few blocks away from the old location, Mario Toyotoshi said he had always dreamed of building an up-to-date facility that can meet customer expectations.
Unique features of the facility include an environmentally-friendly car wash, a state-of-the-art shop aimed at reducing wait times at the dealership, widespread visibility into the shops and offices, and a multi-purpose drive through that can display vehicles or provide an indoor delivery area.
"We're very happy with the new facility. It offers a clean and bright approach to serving our customers in this area better. Their approach here really is to have an open concept where the customer can see everything that's being done. There's nothing behind the curtain," said Hutchinson in an interview with Canadian auto dealer.
"Mario had some unique ideas and challenged us in some ways but we were open to see what is new, what is upcoming and try new things. As much as Kaizen is about continuous improvement, sometimes you have to make jumps. I think this facility jumps in some areas that we're really interested in seeing how well it is going to be received," Hutchinson added.
While the facility has only been open to the public for a few days, Mario Toyotoshi said feedback has been positive so far.
"Every guest who has come to our dealership has absolutely loved it. It's easy to come to. They found the facilities to be so open and easy to walk around in."

by:canadianautodealer.ca



Dixie Toyota Celebrates Grand Opening with Japanese Flare......... www.redlineautosales.ca/dixie-toyota-celebrates-grand-opening-with-japanese-flare.htm

Friday 12 August 2016

KBB names top 10 back-to-school vehicles

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With school just around the corner, you may start to see more parents and university students walking into your dealership, looking for the perfect back-to-school vehicle.
Luckily, Kelley Blue Book in the U.S. has come out with a list of its top 10 back-to-school vehicles to help buyers make a decision. These 2016 vehicles suit a range of transportation needs, and are all available under $20,000.
"Safety is the paramount decision when it comes to back-to-school cars, and practicality and affordability are also high on the list of desirable characteristics, at least according to parents," said Jack R. Nerad, executive editorial director and executive market analyst for Kelley Blue Book's KBB.com, in a written release.
"The kids involved also prefer to have a car they're happy to be seen in, which suggests that style is part of the equation too. Our 2016 list of the 10 best back-to-school cars addresses all of these wants with an array of cool cars that has something for just about any student," he added.
The top 10 vehicles on the list include:
  1. Honda Fit
  2. Kia Soul
  3. Honda Civic
  4. Honda HR-V
  5. Mazda Mazda3
  6. Nissan Versa Note
  7. Subaru Impreza
  8. Mazda CX-3
  9. Ford Fiesta
  10.  Chevrolet Spark

by: canadianautodealer.ca


KBB Names Top 10 Back to School Vehicles.................................................... www.redlineautosales.ca/kbb-names-top-10-back-to-school-vehicles.htm

Friday 5 August 2016

AUTONOMOUS VEHICLES WOULD NEED MANDATORY INSPECTIONS




If automakers hope to avoid liability in crashes involving autonomous vehicles, regular inspections must be mandated, the chief economist for the National Automobile Dealers Association said.
Steven Szakaly, speaking here at the Center for Automotive Research's Management Briefing Seminars on Tuesday, said the auto industry should take its cue from the aviation and mining industries, which bring their vehicles in for regular, mandated service to ensure systems are working properly.
"You cannot allow those systems to fail," Szakaly said. "And if you have those systems fail, or you don't properly maintain those systems and that leads to failure, that liability is on those manufacturers."
Automakers and technology companies such as Google have said they aim to introduce driverless cars to the market by 2020. As that point approaches, much of the discussion around autonomy has centered around who would be at fault in the event of a crash: the owner or the automaker.
Szakaly said it is a given that consumers will misuse or misunderstand autonomous technology, so it is imperative that automakers ensure everything is properly maintained - especially since a failure in an autonomous system is more likely to affect other vehicles than, say, a transmission problem on a manually driven car.
"There's a 100 percent certainty that if we don't have mandated service intervals someone's system is not going to be properly maintained, and there's a 100 percent certainty that will end catastrophically in some way," he said.
Sales forecast
Szakaly said NADA expects 17.7 million new light-vehicle sales in the U.S. this year, a number that it sees falling to 17.1 million units in 2017.
"We've had six straight years of steadily rising sales, which has been a fantastic period of growth, and vehicles per household have returned to the same level prior to the Great Recession," he said. "But most pent-up demand has been satisfied."
He said the shift in demand away from cars and toward light trucks is here to stay thanks in part to a healthy economy and low gasoline prices. Szakaly said light trucks will account for about 59 percent of new vehicle sales this year.

by: autonews.com


Autonomous Vehicles Would Need Mandatory Inspections................... www.redlineautosales.ca/car-management-briefing-seminars-autonomous-vehicles-would-need-mandatory-inspections.htm