Newly Formed Used Digital Retail Division
to Drive Used Vehicle Sales Across All Channels (Omni-Channel),
Including Completely Online
EDMONTON, AB, Dec.1, 2020 /CNW/
- AutoCanada Inc. ("AutoCanada" or the "Company") (TSX: ACQ),
a multi-location North American automobile dealership group,
announced that its newly formed Used Digital Retail Division has
acquired Haldimand Motors, an independent used vehicle dealership
located in Cayuga, Ontario, 30
minutes south of Hamilton,
Ontario.
Operating for over 35 years, Haldimand Motors is one of
Canada's largest volume used
vehicle dealers, with facilities of over 80,000 square feet on 20
acres, 130 shop bays and a full-service department. Haldimand
is a consistent winner of Hamilton Spectator's People's Choice
Award and Hamilton Consumer's Choice Award for used car dealership
and a past winner of AutoTrader's National Best Used Car
Dealer. The strategic acquisition of Haldimand Motors is part
of AutoCanada's previously announced Used Digital Retail Initiative
and will be part of the newly formed Used Digital Retail
Division.
AutoCanada's Used Digital Retail Division is expected to drive
used vehicle sales across all channels (omni-channel), including
completely online. This includes the development of a
national network of used vehicle dealers through both organic
development and acquisitions such as Haldimand Motors, as well as
an online platform. Paul Antony,
AutoCanada's Executive Chairman, will continue to have all Canadian
and U.S. operations reporting into him, with the additional
responsibility of overseeing the Used Digital Retail Division.
In addition to his AutoCanada compensation, he will receive
an incentive representing 15% of the value of the Used Digital
Retail Division above AutoCanada's contributed capital (plus a rate
of return).
Mr. Antony is uniquely qualified to oversee the Used Digital
Retail Division through his extensive experience, which includes a
long family history in the automobile industry and his role as
Founder, Chairman & CEO at CARPROOF, a North American software
and data company. Under Paul's leadership, CARPROOF grew
rapidly, initially targeting 10% of the volume of its larger U.S.
competitor CARFAX given the relative size of the Canadian market,
ultimately exceeding that scale before CARPROOF's sale to IHS
Markit (owner of CARFAX) in 2015. Mr. Antony sees parallels
with the current used digital retail efforts by others in
the United States and believes the
AutoCanada Used Digital Retail Division is well positioned to
evolve similarly.
"The addition of Haldimand's expansive used vehicle operations
supports our Used Digital Retail Initiative – a strategy designed
to address the substantial opportunity in the Canadian market with
the dedicated sale of used vehicles across all channels, including
completely online. We've been focused on used vehicle sales
for some time as part of the Go Forward Plan and our progress
there, which has been echoed by the experience of our U.S. peers,
has provided validation of both this end market and our ability to
execute. This includes our achievement of approximately 1:1
Used to New vehicle sales, which we believe can improve
meaningfully beyond that over time. These efforts also
provide a natural hedge against new car cyclicality through
increased diversification. Our experience so far in 2020 has
reinforced the validity of this strategy, where our used business
continues to accelerate," said Mr. Antony.
"We see this opportunity providing us not only with a Canadian
first mover advantage in the category and a wealth of domain
expertise, but the ability to build a Used Digital Retail operation
with attractive unit economics that should allow us to scale
rapidly without meaningful cash burn – a notable difference from
some of the U.S. Digital Retail players," continued Mr.
Antony. He added, "Importantly, our Used Digital Retail
platform also sets the stage to allow AutoCanada to provide a
better and more consistent experience to our customers across
channels whether they prefer to buy online or in-store. With
consumers frequently transitioning from a used vehicle to a
Certified Pre-Owned vehicle and ultimately new, it also allows us
to attract consumers to our network earlier in the car buying
lifecycle and to serve that customer how he or she needs to be
served – including service and repair. In other words our Used
Digital Retail Initiative sets the foundation to serve all
customers for all transactions around mobility ownership as
transportation evolves, which is important to the future of
AutoCanada leadership in the markets we serve."
About AutoCanada
AutoCanada is a leading North American multi-location automobile
dealership group currently operating 66 franchised dealerships,
comprised of 27 brands, in eight provinces in Canada as well as a group in Illinois, USA. AutoCanada currently sells
Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, Ram, FIAT, Alfa Romeo, Chevrolet, GMC,
Buick, Cadillac, Ford, Infiniti,
Nissan, Hyundai, Subaru, Audi, Volkswagen, Kia, Mazda,
Mercedes-Benz, Porsche, BMW, MINI, Volvo, Toyota, Lincoln, and Honda branded vehicles. In 2019,
our dealerships sold approximately 71,000 vehicles and processed
approximately 900,000 service and collision repair orders in our
1,047 service bays generating revenue in excess of $3 billion.
Additional information about AutoCanada Inc. is available at
www.sedar.com and the Company's website at www.autocan.ca.
Certain statements contained in this press release are
forward-looking statements and information (collectively,
"forward-looking statements") within the meaning of the applicable
Canadian securities legislation. We hereby provide cautionary
statements identifying important factors that could cause our
actual results to differ materially from those projected in these
forward-looking statements. Any statements that express, or involve
discussions as to, expectations, beliefs, plans, objectives,
assumptions or future events or performance (often, but not always,
through the use of words or phrases such as "will likely result",
"are expected to", "will continue", "is anticipated", "projection",
"vision", "goals", "objective", "target", "schedules", "outlook",
"anticipate", "expect", "estimate", "could", "should", "plan",
"seek", "may", "intend", "likely", "will", "believe" and similar
expressions) are not historical facts and are forward looking. In
particular, this press release contains forward-looking statements
with respect to, among other things, future operating results of
the acquired business, the successful integration of such business
into AutoCanada's business, the development of the Company's Used
Digital Retail Division and future operating results of the
Company's Used Digital Retail Division.
The forward-looking statements included in this press release
are not guarantees of future performance and should not be unduly
relied upon. Readers are cautioned that forward-looking statements
are based on current expectations, estimates and projections that,
by their nature, forward-looking statements involve a number of
known and unknown risks and uncertainties, which could cause actual
results to differ materially from those anticipated and described
in the forward-looking statements. These known and unknown risks
and uncertainties include, but are not limited to: future operating
results, the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on our operations,
financial condition and liquidity and the duration of such impacts;
potential changes in the regulatory and legislative environment;
volatility in interest and tax rates; operating risks inherent in
the automotive retail industry; and changes in general economic
conditions including the capital and credit markets.
Forward-looking statements involve estimates and assumptions
and are subject to risks, uncertainties and other factors some of
which are beyond our control and difficult to predict. Accordingly,
actual results or outcomes may differ materially from those
expressed in the forward-looking statements. In particular, in
presenting its forward-looking statements, AutoCanada has made
assumptions respecting, among other things the future
operating results of the acquired business, the successful
integration of such business into AutoCanada's business, the
development of the Company's Used Digital Retail Initiative and the
future operating results of the Company's Used Digital Retail
Division.
AutoCanada cautions that the foregoing list of assumptions,
risks and uncertainties is not exhaustive. The Company's Annual
Information Form and other documents filed with securities
regulatory authorities (accessible through the SEDAR website at
www.sedar.com) describe the risks, material assumptions and other
factors that could influence actual results and which are
incorporated herein by reference. The forward-looking statements
contained in this press release speak only as of the date hereof
and AutoCanada assumes no obligation to publicly update or revise
them to reflect new events or circumstances, except as may be
required pursuant to applicable securities laws.
SOURCE AutoCanada Inc.