Auto Racing

TORRANCE, CA - Honda is recalling 748,000 Pilot and Odyssey vehicles in the United States and Canada because of a possible problem with their driver's side airbags.

The Japanese car maker says the airbags may have been assembled without some of the rivets needed to secure their cover. That could keep them from deploying properly in the event of a crash and increase the possibility of injury.

No crashes or injuries have been reported related to the issue.

The affected Pilot SUVs were made for the 2009 through 2013 model years, while the Odyssey minivans in question were made for the 2011 through 2013 model years.

Spokeswoman Maki Inoue says the vehicles were assembled at the company's manufacturing plant in Lincoln, Ala.

The recall applies to 29,000 cars in Canada.

The vehicle buying and owning process has always involved the dealership as the primary stage and many times the only stage that many consumers experience. In earlier years, the general buying public bought locally and didn’t have expectations of competitors to contrast. In many regions, loyalty wasn't an afterthought and few manufacturers were distributing product. 

Gordon Williams, owner of Hoskin's Ford in Western Canada, has seen this transformation and expansion first hand. His particular Ford store is the longest lasting, oldest Ford Store in Canada. In operation since 1935, Williams in many ways pioneered the type of dealership that we presently are accustomed to.

Today, the multitude of variety when it comes to car dealerships in Canada is simply staggering. In larger cities, every mainstream manufacturer is represented and car shopping can be more challenging yet more enjoyable than ever before. 

A variable that seems consistent when speaking to successful dealerships is their focus on the customer’s overall experience. A customer’s dealership experience is arguably the most important element in the buying process. Presently, Customer Satisfaction Index (CSI) is a tool that’s at the forefront of many business models assisting dealers in realizing the impact of customer satisfaction on a daily basis with the understanding of further dividends being rewarded down the line. It should also be noted that customers today possess an increasing level of knowledge that must be respected and acknowledged on the dealership floor. What results is a selling process that’s less dependent on sales tactics and more focused towards building a reliable relationship with the customer. 

Most of a buyers shopping is now done online – and this doesn’t stop when it comes to purchasing a new or used vehicle. On an everyday basis, customers can do most of their research online through an abundance of automotive media outlets before they even step foot in a dealership. Most customers still visit the dealership showrooms, but it’s more for a final act to see and test drive the tangible product that they’ve been learning so much about. Like any new change, both advantages are disadvantages surface for the dealer. For one, they’re often dealing with a more informed customer that’s more educated and serious about their purchase. Deals can now be made in a more efficient manner and decisions can be reached sooner. 

As good as this new caliber of customer may seem – they aren't ideal to many dealerships. Customers familiarize themselves with the blue, red and black books that showcase the values of their respective vehicles and in turn present salespeople with a brand new set of obstacles. The common expectation resulting from this is a lower asking price from the customer in both new and used markets. With increased knowledge, customers will strive to reach what some averaged statistics may recommend. What results is a conflict in the ability for dealerships to make the type of profits they once received. 

This new dynamic more-informed customer has also transformed what dealerships look for in their sales staff. The old traditional skill sets within a salesperson still exist on a limited basis, but now individuals with formal business education or training have become an asset. It’s now advantageous and soon an essential credential for those working within the retail level to have specified educational background for their respective field i.e. (finance and insurance, sales, etc.)

With so much competition and identical product offerings in close proximity – dealers need to find a way to identify themselves. Comparative advantage is the key and creating, maintaining and improving the brand that is your dealership is the latest variable for success. A strategy and philosophy must be set out and all things need to be considered.

As the automotive industry continues to change – car dealerships have had to evolve as well. Customers have become more educated on the products and aware of the existing profit margins and at times the wholesale pricing. This has made the effort and uniqueness put forward by each dealer more important than ever. Today, a low percentage of vehicles sell themselves and value can no longer be found in just a cheaper deal.  Dealerships have taken the next step by hiring more qualified and educated automotive minds along with a heightened sense of customer service and satisfaction that has gone along way for many. In the next few years – it will be fascinating to see what the future brings for the others who have not adapted to this new automotive sales mindset.   

In a recent far-reaching discussion with Lauren More, Vice President Communications for Ford of Canada, many questions were addressed – and answered.

Back in 2006, before the major credit crunch hit, Ford began to prepare for what they saw as being almost inevitable; the decimation of the automotive industry as we know it today. Tough and impactful decisions were discussed – and implemented. This resulted in closures, overall reductions in product lines – and a loss of employees. The salad days were long gone. U.S. $23 billion was borrowed. $23 billion – that’s with a ‘b’.

With this financial cushion, Ford began the arduous but necessary task of rebuilding an iconic brand. 

Ms. More continued by saying that Ford’s business strategy is embodied in their ‘ONE Ford’ plan. ONE Ford expands on this worldwide company’s four-point business plan for achieving success globally. The four-point business plan consists of the following:

•Aggressively restructure to operate profitably at the current demand and changing model mix;

•Accelerate development of new products customers want and value;

•Finance this plan and improve the balance sheet; and,

•Work together effectively as one team.

So, by continuing to build on this plan, ONE Ford encourages focus, teamwork and a single global approach, aligning employee efforts toward a common definition of success. It emphasizes the importance of working together as one team to achieve automotive leadership, which is measured by the satisfaction of customers, employees and essential business partners, including dealers, investors, suppliers, unions/councils and the communities in which Ford operates.

From the ONE plan foundation, led by the Chief Executive Officer of the Ford Motor Company, Alan Mulally, Ford turned things around by globalizing operations, cutting costs, improving quality and expanding the line-up with fuel-efficient models like the Fiesta sub-compact – a true world car, designed and produced for consumers in practically every market that sells Ford product. 

As Ms. More stated, the popular auto maker had to learn some very hard lessons from before, reduce its often perceived arrogant position (my words) that bigger is better and that Ford quality was either comparable or better than the upstart Asian manufacturers who seemed to ‘get it’ sooner than their North American counterparts. 

A word we will see more of in the future in automotive vernacular is ‘EcoBoost’. EcoBoost is a family of turbocharged, direct-injected gasoline engines produced by the Ford Motor Company and co-developed by FEV engineering. Engines equipped with EcoBoost technology are designed to deliver power and torque consistent with larger engine displacement, while achieving approximately 20% better fuel efficiency and 15% reduced greenhouse emissions than larger engines. In fact, relative to the power output and fuel efficiency of hybrid and diesel technologies, Ford sees EcoBoost as an affordable and versatile alternative and intends on using it extensively in future vehicle applications. Now that does not mean that vehicles with a much-reduced carbon footprint will not be available. In Michigan for example, on one of the sprawling production lines, four different vehicles now come down one line. Further, significant effort continues to be pumped into research and development on hybrid and plug-in hybrid vehicles – such as the much lauded innovative C-Max compact now available in dealerships. 

As consumers, we tend to be tactile and consequently greater emphasis is also being placed on every vehicle’s interior – meeting and exceeding customer and market expectations with a quality proposition second-to-none.

And how is all this working? Well, in late October 2012, the Automobile Journalists Association of Canada (AJAC) held its annual Test Fest to determine the 2013 Canadian Car of the Year (CCOTY), Ford led the competition with top spot earned in four disparate categories:

•2012 Ford Focus Electric won ‘Best New City Car’;

•2013 Ford Fusion Hybrid claimed top spot for ‘Best New Family Car’ over $30,000;

•2013 Ford Escape 1.6LSE ‘Best New SUV’ under $35,000; and,

•2013 Ford Focus ST scored ‘Best New Sports-Performance Car ‘ under $50,000.

Will one of these Ford vehicles win the coveted 2013 AJAC CCOTY? Time will tell. Votes from more than 80 AJAC-accredited journalists are now being tabulated and the overall winning vehicle will be announced at the Canadian International Auto Show, February 14, 2013.

And the icing on the 2012 cake?

•Ford is the best-selling automaker in Canada for the third consecutive year 

•Ford F-Series is the best-selling vehicle in Canada for the third year in-a-row

•Ford F-Series is the best-selling pickup in Canada for a record 47 consecutive years

•Ford F-Series sold more than 100,000 units in Canada; first time an automaker has sold that many trucks in single year 

•Overall truck sales rose 1%

For 2013, don’t underestimate a once vulnerable underdog who continues to strive for consumer and market acceptance – one vehicle at a time.

TORONTO - Several Canadians who thought they were buying a luxury car online are out $200,000 after it was discovered that the purportedly U.S.-based company may not actually exist.

Authorities say American scammers have been targeting Canadians because cross-border prosecutions are more difficult.

"Any time you have a jurisdictional border between the victim and the criminals it's a massive headache," said Daniel Williams, a supervisor at the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre.

"It will sadly always work to their advantage."

The centre has passed information along to law enforcement agencies in the U.S., but it's up to them to decide if they have resources to devote to an investigation, he said. Alleged victims likely won't get their money back.

"The possibility is there," Williams said. "From what we see, the track record for it isn't encouraging."

Advertisements of luxury vehicles appear on the Canadian websites of AutoTrader, eBay, Craigslist, Kijiji and Wheels.ca at prices regulators say are too good to be true.

At least five Canadians fell victim to one such ploy, the Ontario Motor Vehicle Industry Council said Tuesday.

Terry O'Keefe, a spokesman for the council, said those people came forward to say they had lost tens of thousands of dollars each after arranging to buy cars through Ambient Auto Centre, which said it was in Oklahoma.

The cars never came and those people haven't been able to get their money back. Shortly after the council publicized a fraud warning last month Ambient's website disappeared and their phone number went dead.

The address Ambient had on their website led authorities in Oklahoma to an empty field.

Two weeks later Sprint Luxury Autos started advertising on the same websites and their homepage looked nearly identical to the former Ambient site, O'Keefe said. The physical address listed on that website led to a Sprint telecommunications building in Oklahoma, he said.

The council issued another news release warning Canadians about online auto frauds and named Sprint, O'Keefe said. Shortly after that the Sprint Luxury Autos website went down.

Now, the council believes a company called Husen Original Autos may be related. It is advertising luxury vehicle sales in the same forums, has a website that looks almost exactly like the former two in design and in wordings and testimonials, O'Keefe said.

A call to the number listed on Husen Original Autos' website goes to a voicemail for Sprint Luxury Autos but a message left there was not returned.

U.S. authorities say Husen Original Autos is not licensed and has no physical presence — the address listed on their website is actually a community centre in Phoenix, Ariz.

O'Keefe points to various websites for legitimate motor vehicle dealers on which pictures that appear to match pictures of cars listed on Husen Original Autos' website can be found.

Pictures of a 2011 Maserati GranTurismo S listed on Husen Original Autos' website for $95,000 appear to be the same as ones for the same car listed for $135,000 on the website for Eurospeed Imports, which O'Keefe said is a legitimate dealer in California.

Some fraudsters use luxury cars to entice victims from abroad because, O'Keefe said, people aren't likely to pay to have a five-year-old Honda Civic shipped to them, but they might if they think they're saving tens of thousands of dollars on a luxury car.

"The best way to prevent these problems from occurring is to educate consumers so they understand that if a price looks too good to be true, well, you know, that shouldn't be seen as an opportunity," O'Keefe said.

"That's a warning because it is too good to be true. No one is going to sell a $135,000 vehicle for $90,000."

The alleged victims in this case come from across Canada and are reporting the incidents to their local police forces, so O'Keefe urged anyone who thinks they may have fallen prey to such a scam to also contact the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre — jointly managed by the RCMP, Ontario Provincial Police and the Competition Bureau Canada.