DriveLine Newsletter 2024 May

MAY 2024

MONTHLY NEWSLETTER OF THE MOTOR DEALERS' ASSOCIATION OF ALBERTA

MDA Anual General Meeting /Board Meeting 

Calgary

May 15, 2024

Click here to email us if you'd like to attend in person.

MDA Dealer of Excellence Awards

Online

Nominations are open until May 31, 2024

MDA Chair's Tour 

Alberta-wide

June 17-19, 2024

On January 1, 2024, Bill S211, referred to as Canada’s Modern Slavery Act, came into force.  The Act imposes an obligation on businesses meeting certain criteria to report annually by May 31 on measures taken to prevent and reduce the risk of forced or child labour being used in their supply chains. If required to file a report, dealers must: scrutinize its supply chains, gather the information required to prepare, obtain board approval, complete the online questionnaire and file their initial report with Public Safety Canada and post it on the business’s website by May 31st, 2024. Failure to comply could result in significant penalties, reputational damage and liability for officers and directors.

WHO MUST REPORT

Aside from government institutions, the targeted entities under the Act are corporations, trusts, partnerships or unincorporated organizations that:

To qualify, the above entities must also either (i) be listed on a Canadian stock exchange or (ii) have a place of business or assets in Canada or do business in Canada and meet two of the three following criteria for at least one of its two most recent financial years, calculated based on consolidated financial statements:

Join incoming MDA Chair Greg Stahl, incoming Vice Chair Colby Longmate and President Gerald Wood, along with WD Co Auto President Mike Reid and MDA Services' President Dave Jones, to learn about Association news, provide feedback and ask questions.

We are encouraging you to bring your full management team so they can hear about the issues facing our industry in the coming months and years.  Use the form above to see the schedule and register for this event.

On March 19th, MDA Chair Glenn Smaha and President Gerald Wood attended Dealer Huddle West to participate in a panel hosted by Mathew Growden, discussing current events and a look into the future.  Dealer Huddle is an event that brings the students from SAIT’s Business Administration Automotive Management program, Alberta dealerships and industry partners together to provide them an opportunity to learn about the industry they are entering and network with potential employers.

MDA proudly sponsored this event. As part of this sponsorship, we will be hosting two promising students at this fall’s Western Canadian Dealer Summit.  These students, Melody Dyck and Shefa Khairullah are just completing their first year and will be well into their second when they join us in Banff.  We extend our warmest congratulations to them and look forward to their participation in November.

An update on Provincial Sales around Canada.

Please review the AMVIC Inspection results for the last quarter.  You will see that there was a larger focus on re-visits as the focus shifts to dealers who have had issues in the past.  You will also note that AMVIC has added some new categories, at our request, to assist in understanding the types of challenges we face.  We continue to struggle with ensuring that all spaces on the Bill of Sale are filled in – this is a simple method to ensure you are compliant – please ensure your team is completing the form in full.

We have seen some improvement in dealers selling above the advertised price but we need to continue our diligence and work to eliminate this as an issue.  One area that has become more prevalent recently is compliance with your work orders in the Service Department.  We encourage you to review requirements on the AMVIC website and check your documents to ensure your team is including the required disclosures.

As always, if you have any questions, please call the MDA Office.

+1 (949) 542-2071 (work)

5934 Gibraltar Drive
Pleasanton, CA.  94588

Federated Insurance is one of Canada’s leading direct commercial insurers. Our industry experts are committed to understanding the risks and opportunities of auto dealerships. With comprehensive and specialized programs for your business, you get the right protection for your inventory, property and contents, your employees and your day-to-day operations.

And, you deal with us directly so we can pass all the value on to you.

The MDA Dealer of Excellence Awards are the premiere automotive awards in Alberta, celebrating individuals who embody excellence across three key categories:

Each year, we honour two exceptional individuals: one from the metro category (encompassing Edmonton and Calgary members) and one from all other members of the MDA.

Nominees are vetted by the MDA and reviewed by a select panel of previous winners of this award to choose this year’s honorees.

To be considered, nominees must meet the following criteria:

An open line of communication for businesses in your area can help improve protection against theft, fraud and repeat targeting. Building a connection with other local businesses can help to also prevent organized crime and its role in large-scale theft, vandalism and drug activity. Organized crime is advanced and often targets businesses without a network of support or advanced security. By building your network, you can share information and help to build a better response or case if one of the businesses is targeted locally.

Many times, perpetrators who target high value assets stored outside often have outstanding warrants for additional offences. By working together with local police, your business can help to prevent or solve a multitude of crimes within the community. Law enforcement intervention immediately helps responding officers to take more effective actions against the perpetrators.

As dealerships continue to increase in value, with more owners across the country looking toward retirement and relentless consolidation within the industry, management has a unique opportunity ahead of them.

Buying the dealership you’ve worked at for years, or even decades, may initially seem like something too large and complex to pull off. But this can be done in most cases, even if this requires new and unique approaches.  

You likely know the ins and outs of the operation and already have a vested interest in the success of the business. You’re in tune with the industry and know what it takes to keep the dealership going and growing. In most cases, managers helped build this value through hard work and good decision-making.

But there are some critical considerations you’ll need to make before committing to a dealership purchase.

Whether you have an established plan to purchase the dealership outright, of if there’s an Employee Share Ownership Plan (ESOP) in place, or if you’d like to be part of an ESOP development, you’ll want to keep a few things in mind to help the transition to ownership goes smoothly.

We're thrilled to announce that our team is bringing our highly anticipated workshop to Vancouver this August, and we couldn't be more pumped about it. We're still finalizing the dates, but I wanted to give you the inside scoop early so you can mark your calendar and secure your spot before they're all gone.

This workshop is all about mastering our proven best practices for managing and building a team of top sellers at your dealership.

Click here to view.

Here's a sneak peek at what you can expect:

After just two days with us, you'll walk away armed with the tools and insights you need to become an even stronger leader and manager for your sales team.

Ready to seize this opportunity and elevate your leadership game? Simply click below to RSVP and secure your spot. Trust me, these spots are going to fill up fast, so don't wait too long to act!

Can't wait to see you there! Let's make this workshop one for the books.

Often when businesses look at initiatives and programs that are geared towards a social cause, the question that gets asked is Why should I? or how does this benefit my company?

Well, the answers are almost as broad as the topic of D&I itself, but here are a few starting points.

Let’s start with the financial-

When an organization has a good D&I program, statistically they also have better profit margins and lower costs. In fact, according to Deloitte, 31% is the ‘tangible uplift in business performance’ that is achieved by diverse and inclusive organisations.

We hope you enjoyed this edition of the MDA’s Monthly E-Newsletter.

We appreciate your comments, concerns or feedback.

Sign up online to subscribe to MDA Communications.

(780) 465-8854

6248 50 St NW, Edmonton, AB T6B 2N7

info@mdaalberta.com

www.mdaalberta.com