Canadians Vote Honda & Toyota Tops For Quality

It seems the vehicle preferences of Canadians haven't changed much in the last year, as the 2014 iteration of ALG's Canada Brand Perception of Quality (BPQ) rankings look very similar to the 2013 edition.
Once again, Honda, Toyota and Volkswagen are tops for the mainstream sector, with scores of 61.9 percent, 60.6 percent and 60.5 percent, respectively, on a 100-point scale.
And Mercedes-Benz came out ahead in the premium market with a score of 65.8, followed by BMW (65.4) and Porsche (64.3).
"It's clear that the established German luxury marques, along with Lexus, have a solid advantage in the battle for public perception," ALG analysts said.
The company also pointed out overall perception of brand quality in Canada has risen nearly a full point, showing increased confidence in automakers - even amid the extensive recall campaigns launched this year.
Though 2014 BPQ results - which were calculated from an on-line survey of 2,000 recent new-vehicle buyers across Canada -  show similar rankings from last year, ALG pointed out a few notable shifts.
For example, Dodge and GMC moved in "opposite directions", ALG analysts reported.
Dodge saw a BPQ bump of 2.8 points this time around to 53.8, which was nearly two points more than the overall average of 55. According to survey results, the appreciation for Dodge was split between genders. While women's opinion of Dodge went up nearly 2.5 points, men's fell by approximately half a point.
On the other hand, General Motors' truck brand saw perception fall by one point to 53.3, which was enough to drop the brand down five spots in the overall rankings.
Opinions of GMC dropped among both genders,  and ALG pointed out that various demographic groups, such as "leading-edge boomers" and buyers without a college education, also lowered their opinions of the brand.
Another mainstream brand to see a drop in perception of quality was Hyundai, which has moved forward recently in other avenues.
The brand, though, ranks just above average for BPQ, falling below brands such as Subaru, Jeep and Ford.
"Hyundai's biggest shift was among trailing-edge boomers and, more worryingly, millennials," ALG's report said.
And new for this year, ALG broke down the BPQ results by geographic region, highlighting the Quebec results as particularly interesting.
In Quebec, VW ranked significantly above Toyota.
"The German brand also had an advantage when it comes to younger buyers, with Millennials and Gen-Xers ranking marginally below Honda in terms of perception of quality," ALG analysts explained. "Many of these buyers did not experience the quality issues Volkswagen struggled through in the early- to mid-2000s, and just associate the Volkswagen name with German engineering."
And this dedication to German engineering was particularly obvious in the luxury rankings. Results for the premium brands panned out in similar "clusters," ALG pointed out, with the Germans at the top, the second-tier Japanese luxury brands near the average, and the U.S. brands towards the bottom.
"Each of the latter groups have struggled to compete with the Teutonic luxury juggernaut, and have continually sought to reinvent themselves in order to jump-start their market share, though Acura and Infiniti get the benefit of the positive association with Japanese quality," the report stated.
Interestingly, the biggest alteration in the premium sector was seen toward the bottom of the list, with Tesla (15) and Alfa Romeo (14) switching places.
ALG asserts this change is due to increasing familiarity with the Tesla brand, while Alfa Romeo "still relies on public memory of its brand to inform buyers of its quality levels, which is not conducive to high levels of perception."
While Alfa lost more than a full index point, Tesla gained 4.5 points.

Canadians Vote Honda and Toyota Tops for Quality............................... www.redlineautosales.ca/canadians-vote-honda---toyota-tops-for-quality.htm

What Length of Ownership Leads to Brand Loyalty?

A recent analysis released by Experian Automotive this week shines some light on the relationship between a consumer's length of ownership of a vehicle and their likelihood of repurchasing their next vehicle from the same brand, otherwise known as brand loyalty.
The relationship may surprise you.
According to Experian's data, the longer consumers hold onto their vehicles, the less likely they are to remain loyal to the brand. In fact, it appears as though the most significant drop in brand loyalty occurs after 36 months, according to the study, making leases ideal for brands to hold onto their drivers.
"Leases with their fixed length ownership cycle are typically strong contributors to brand loyalty," said Brad Smith, Experian Automotive's director of automotive market statistics.
Over the course of seven years of ownership, a lot of things change, including vehicle product offerings, vehicle budget and credit score," Smith continued. "Additionally, the increase in time between dealer interactions, whether they are for sales or service, increases the probability of a customer defecting to the competition."
As of the first quarter of 2014, the average length of ownership was 93 months - 7.75 years - with an average brand-loyalty rate of 49.5 percent. Consumers who owned a vehicle for 12 months ended up purchasing from the same brand family 57.3 percent of the time, while that rate dropped to 33.8 percent for people who owned their vehicle for 144 months, or 12 years.
The most significant drop - after 36 months, decreased brand loyalty by nearly 10 percentage points.
"Understanding how long consumers hang onto vehicles, or how often they return to market and purchase the same brand, are critical pieces of information for automotive dealers, retailers and manufacturers," Smith said.
"On the one hand, increased ownership lengths create greater opportunity for dealer and aftermarket service organizations," he continued. "On the other hand, it underscores the importance for service centers to focus on customer service and retention.
"Dealers and manufacturers should continue to emphasize on keeping customers loyal to the service drive and using these customer interactions to highlight their new and soon to be released product offerings, as these efforts will aid in increasing service revenue and repurchase loyalty," Smith went on to say.
So which manufacturers lead the way in length of ownership and brand loyalty?
Dodge, Buick, Chevrolet, Ford and Mitsubishi, respectively, were the top five brands for length of ownership, ranging from 113 months of ownership for Dodge and Buick to 109 months for Mitsubishi.
On the other end of the spectrum, Ford, Subaru, Toyota, Kia and Lexus showed the highest rates of brand loyalty, respectively, ranging from 61 percent with Ford to 55.8 percent with Lexus. Ford, with 110 months for their average length of ownership, was the only brand to break into the top five in both categories.
Other important findings, provided by Experian Automotive:

• In Q1 2014, the average length of ownership increased by three months from Q1 2012
• Brand loyalty in the first quarter of 2014 improved by 3.9 percent from two years ago
• Acura and Volvo led the luxury-vehicle segment with the longest length of ownership in Q1 2014 at 99 months and 92 months, respectively
• Lexus and Mercedes-Benz led the luxury-vehicle segment with the highest brand loyalty in Q1 2012 at 55.8 percent and 52.7 percent, respectively

What Length of Ownership Leads to Brand Loyalty.................. www.redlineautosales.ca/what-length-of-ownership-leads-to-brand-loyalty-.htm   

Toyota Celebrates 50 Years in Canada

It has been 50 years since Toyota entered the Canadian marketplace. A half a century ago, Toyota granted a distributorship agreement to Canadian Motor Industries, Ltd., which would later become Toyota Canada Inc. (TCI).
The following year, TCI would sell only 755 vehicles.
To put the automaker's growth in perspective, Canadians have purchased over 4.6 million vehicle as of this year, and the lineup includes 40 vehicles.
"On this special occasion of our 50th anniversary, we thank Canadians for making Toyota a part of their lives, and allowing us to be woven into the social and economic fabric of this great country," said Seiji Ichii, president and chief executive officer of TCI. "Our customers are the inspiration that motivate us - and they are behind the passion that drives our innovation in the automotive industry."
And TCI has put an emphasis on creating jobs in the country, as well.
Today, almost half of the Toyota vehicles sold in Canada are made at Toyota Motor Manufacturing Canada Inc. (TMMC).
The Toyota Corolla and RAV4, and the Lexus RX350 and RX450 hybrid are built at TMMC.
And this year, TMMC also hit a milestone, celebrating the production of its 6 millionth vehicle.
TCI employs 700 associates, and the total of Canadians employed by Toyota in Canada reaches about 11,000 when adding team members, as well as at Toyota Financial Services,  the company said.
And when taking the network of 285 dealerships into account, total employment reaches approximately 24,000 Canadians.
The company said that innovation is at the heart of the automaker's long-term vision, both for Canada and on a global scale.
In fact, the milestone of 100,000 TCI hybrids sold in Canada was recently reached.
Since 2000 when the Toyota Prius hybrid was first introduced to Canada, based on the total Toyota/Lexus hybrid units sold, using approved government of Canada test methodology, Toyota and Lexus hybrids have saved Canadians almost 260 million liters of fuel and helped avoid over 600,000 tons of C02 emissions, according to TCI.
The company also works to support Canadian communities, with help from its dealerships. Toyota Canada Inc. and the Toyota Canada Foundation work within the community with a primary focus on the environment, safety education and quality.
Toyota and its dealerships support the Toyota Evergreen Learning Grounds program and the Toyota sponsored KartSTART, a driver-safety training program.
In addition, there is support for research in telematics at Canadian universities such as the Toyota Collaborative Safety Research Center (CSRC) project at the University of Toronto, and research done by specialists at a dedicated Cold Weather Testing facility in Timmins, Ontario.


Toyota Celebrates 50 Years in Canada...................................... www.redlineautosales.ca/toyota-celebrates-50-years-in-canada.htm

Are Franchised Dealerships in Tesla"s Future

Michigan Republican governor Rick Snyder signed legislation Tuesday officially banning Tesla Motors and any other carmaker from selling directly to car-buyers in the state, but this past weekend,Tesla chief executive officer Elon Musk hinted his position on direct sales is not set in stone.
Last Saturday, Musk sat down with John McElroy the host of program AutoLine Daily.
When McElroy asked Musk if he could really scale up his retail model of company stores in all 50 states and how they would handle maintenance and repairs, Musk made a surprising admittance.
He said, relying exclusively on company stores probably was not enough.
"We may need a hybrid system, with a combination of our own stores and dealer franchises," Musk told McElroy.
By the time of publication, Tesla representatives had not responded to Auto Remarketing's request for further comment.
According to the report, Musk made no mention of how this hybrid system may work and when franchises would become an option.
This discussion may come as a big surprise to those who have been watching the long battle between Tesla and franchised dealers across the country regarding its direct-to-consumer sales model, but it may just be part of the natural evolution of the company.
Now that it has launched a leasing and CPO program, and with new models in the wings, more Tesla's mean more maintenance, repair work and customers - an influx of work that could potentially be solved by launching a string of franchised dealerships.
Auto Remarketing discussed Tesla's new CPO program after the news broke earlier this month.
In an effort to source their new program, the company is giving Tesla Model S owners the option to return the car after three years and recover 45 to 50 percent of its sticker price.
It is still unknown whether Tesla's move into the used market will greatly expand its audience and analysts say there could be a chance the program will potentially cut into new-model customers.
The industry will also have to wait and see how the automaker prices its CPO units as the way the Tesla retail model is currently set up puts them in a place where they can potentially "control" the CPO market for the Model S, including price.
"They could control the roll out of used vehicles, and some could sit in reconditioning. They might cherry-pick others. So when you combine the idea that it is a used market but they are going to take the best of the best, and if they have the majority of them, it would be very easy for them to set a price with no negotiation, in that sense," said Ivan Drury, Edmunds.com senior analyst.
The question is this: Is Tesla going to come up with a condition and mileage matrix to price their CPO models or rather go with pricing every vehicle individually based on market and technician review?



Are Franchised Dealerships in Tesla's Future............................ www.redlineautosales.ca/are-franchised-dealerships-in-tesla-s-future.htm

Mercedes Benz Canada Appoints New Brampton Dealer

TORONTO - Mercedes-Benz Canada is expanding its presence in the Greater Toronto area by appointing a new dealer.
Company executives and the dealership's new management recently turned over the first shovelful of soil of the future Brampton-based facility.
Mercedes-Benz Brampton will be run by Sam Eltes and Jonathan Eltes, dealer principles, as well as Gary Williams, the store's general manager.
"Sam Eltes is a long-time trusted partner of Mercedes-Benz Canada and it is our pleasure to welcome him and his team to the Greater Toronto Area. They bring a great deal of experience and knowledge which will make the start up process smoother and more fluid for the benefit of their new customers," said Tim Reuss, president and chief executive officer of Mercedes-Benz Canada. "This new facility will also provide another convenient point of sales and service in the GTA to effectively serve the needs of existing and future customers in this important growing market."
During the groundbreaking ceremony, the group was also joined by Rob Girouard, general manager of Silver Star Mercedes-Benz, located in Montreal.
Mercedes-Benz Brampton will be the second Mercedes-Benz banner for the Silver Star organization.
Construction of the new facility began in August on a six-acre site located on the southeast corner of Mayfield Road at Highway 410.
And this will be a quick turnaround, as the facility is scheduled to be fully operational by May 2015.
The store is set to be 60,000 square-feet and will house the Mercedes-Benz, AMG and Smart brands.
A service area that will feature 29 work bays will take up 30,000 square-feet.

Mercedes Benz Canada Appoints New Brampton Dealer............ www.redlineautosales.ca/mercedes-benz-canada-appoints-new-brampton-dealer.htm

New No. 1 Reason Women Buy from Dealerships

According to Women-Drivers.com, the trustworthiness of a sales adviser has always been more influential on a female car shopper's purchase decision than the price of a car.  However, a different attribute has become more important than trustworthiness.
The site shared with Auto Remarketing that the most important factor in car-buying for women is now respect.
A recent report from the company, assembled directly from reviews by women car buyers, indicates that respect outranks trust, which is now the second-most important factor.
Below, Women-Drivers.com ranks the five attributes of a salesperson that are most influential on female shoppers' buying decisions:
1. Respectful
2. Trustworthy
3. Likeable
4. Knowledgeable
5. Understanding
The price of the vehicle came in just behind these reasons, in terms of influence.
"Of course this doesn't mean that price is not important; it is a critical component," the company's analysis indicated.
"It means, that having a personal, empathic, real, approachable, open and friendly engagement is paramount first. After a sales adviser has passed the EQ litmus test of a female customer, then, and only then will there be a discussion regarding the price of that vehicle," the company concluded.

New No.1 Reason Women Buy From Dealerships............... www.redlineautosales.ca/new-no--1-reason-women-buy-from-dealerships.htm

Most-Appraised Vehicles: What Shoppers Are Looking For

Year-to-date, the Honda Civic Sedan is the third most appraised vehicle in Canada.

Auto Remarketing Canada
Fall appraisal trends are so far mirroring summer results, with the ever-popular Ford F-150 out in front last month, according to DealerTrack's TradeTracker report.
The Ford F-150 is also No. 1 for year-to-date trends, similar to what was seen in 2013.
The Toyota Corolla was the No. 2 most appraised vehicle in Canada in September.
The top three were rounded out by the Dodge Caravan, taking the place of the Honda Civic sedan, which moved down to fourth place. Year-to-date, though, the Honda Civic easily takes the third spot.
Another Ford model, the Escape, rounded out the top five. Year-to-date, this position has been held by the Dodge Grand Caravan.
These reports are provided monthly to Auto Remarketing Canada and are a result of Dealertrack Technologies' TradeTracker solution, which is an online, trade-in evaluation tool that allows dealerships to create instant, accurate appraisals and gain insight into their used-car business.
The report also breaks down the vehicles by market, as follows:

• The top domestic vehicle appraised by domestic dealers was the F-150.
• The top import vehicle appraised by import dealers was the Corolla.
• The top domestic vehicle appraised by import dealers was the Ford Escape.
• The top import vehicle appraised by domestic dealers was the Mazda3.

The report also narrows down the top vehicles being looked at by trade-in owners.
Within this group, the top domestic vehicle looked at by domestic owners was once again the F-150.
For import owners, the top import vehicle looked at was the Corolla.
And when it comes to domestics, import owners looked at the Escape the most in September.
Lastly, the top import vehicle looked at by domestic owners was the Toyota Rav4. This spot has been consistently held by the Toyota Corolla, who holds the year-to-date trend.
The TradeTracker reports also include a Brand of the Month section, which highlights appraisal trends by an individual brand each month.
The brand highlighted in September was Kia.
The top three vehicles looked at by trade-in customers at Kia dealerships were the Sorento, Soul and Rio, respectively.
The top three off-make vehicles appraised by Ford dealers were the Mazda3, Ford Focus and Dodge Grand Caravan, respectively.

Most Appraised Vehicles: What Shoppers Are Looking For.......... www.redlineautosales.ca/most-appraised-vehicles--what-shoppers-are-looking-for.htm