Automotive News Canada - May 2017 - 14

* MAY 2017

Spinal injury didn't keep apprentice tech away from dealership
spends some of his off-work
hours volunteering with the
Lion's Foundation of Canada
guide dog program. As a recipient of a dog, Murphy knows
how essential they are.
"I thought it was such an
awesome organization that I
wanted to give back, so I spoke
to the trainers and they have
me in to work with the dogs
that are in training."

By MICHAEL GOETZ
TORONTO CORRESPONDENT

SEAN MURPHY

WHOLESALE PARTS SPECIALIST
IT'S A STORY THAT BEGINS
with a tragic accident, and
ends with a young man back
where he belonged.
Sean Murphy is a
parts-counter representative
at Applewood Chevrolet Buick
Cadillac GMC, in Mississauga,
Ont., although you rarely see
him behind the counter.
His workstation is a little
deeper in the parts department
where he predominately fields
orders and inquiries by phone,
from Applewood's wholesale
customers.
"I really enjoy
it," says Murphy.
He finds
Applewood to be a
great place to work,
with a close-knit
team, and he loves
being challenged to
source non-mainstream and/or difficult-to-locate items.
Before taking on
this role, Murphy
was an apprentice
technician at the
dealership. Just before he
was to begin his first school
term in September 2013, he
broke his neck in a swimming accident.
"I suffered a spinal cord
injury . . . which left me with
quadriplegia. I'm paralyzed
from my shoulders down and

When he's not chasing down
difficult-to-locate parts, Sean
Murphy spends his spare time
helping train guide dogs.
(PHOTO: MICHAEL GOETZ)

have limited movement in
my arms."
"I always knew I wanted
to come back (to
Applewood), and
right from Day One
they said I will have
a job here as long as
they are here. Lee
(Wittick) and all of
our managers are
so supportive."
After extensive
therapy in hospital and more time
at home, Murphy
returned to the dealership in late 2014.
"It took me a while to get
the courage to come back and
the drive to get back."
He started slowly, but now
works four days a week.
Before the accident, he was
deep in the import-car tuning scene with his modified
Volkswagen Jetta. He now

JEAN-SEBASTIEN
SAURIOL
FROM RACER TO COACH
TO TIRE AMBASSADOR

TALK ABOUT BEING
driven. Jean-Sebastien Sauriol
leverages his car-racing talents for many other industry roles, such as founder

Yokohama Brand
Ambassador Jean-Sebastien
Sauriol. ( P H O T O : Y O K O H A M A )

and chief instructor for Ice
Driving Canada, professional
instructor at Le Circuit Mont
Tremblant near Montreal, and
hired-gun product specialist
for new-vehicle press launches
by automakers.
Late last year he added
Yokohama Tire (Canada) brand
ambassador to his portfolio.
He says he has been a fan of
Yokohama products ever since
his racing days in Japan and
looks forward to "helping promote the Yokohama Tire Brand
across Canada for many years
to come."

RICHARD
BAVERSTOCK

ACTIVE-TRAFFICMANAGEMENT STARTUP
HIS BUSINESS CAREER HAS
a familiar Silicon Valley plot
line.
Immediately after Richard
Baverstock graduated from
the University of Waterloo, in
Waterloo, Ont., the Cambridge,
Ont.-native landed a job working at California tech giant
Nvidia, where he found himself working on a computer
chip that is now extensively
used for self-driving vehicles.
He had his own idea, however, and left his job to build
his own startup company.
That startup is Mogol, and
the idea is an app called Glide,
which uses actual terrain profiles of roads (hills, etc.) to
coach drivers to maximize fuel
economy. Jaguar Land Rover
liked the idea so much that it

Richard Baverstock's startup,
Mogol, attracted investment
from Jaguar Land Rover.
(PHOTO: MICHAEL GOETZ)

invested in Mogol and invited
it to Portland, Ore., along with
other fledgling companies that
are given a chance to prove
themselves.
There, Mogul decided to
change to an active platform
that will connect traffic managers directly to vehicles.
The most notable example
of an active-traffic system is
Britain's M42 highway, which
can close and open lanes and
ramps, and convey detailed
traffic information by digital
signs.
"The problem with that
system is that it costs about
$15 million per route mile
for infrastructure," says
Baverstock. "So, I'm thinking,
why don't we just communicate this to the dashboard of
people's cars?"
The new active-traffic-management version of Glide is
currently in a beta testing
phase. - ANC

TradeRev app lets dealers
auction online from showroom
Customers see
market value 'unfold
before their eyes'
By JIL MCINTOSH
TORONTO CORRESPONDENT

ABOUT 100 NEW DEALERships across Canada have
signed on with online auction
house TradeRev, enabling them
to initiate real-time auctions
from the showroom floor.
They join about 2,500 dealerships already using the service,
TradeRev announced.
The new partnerships
include the Dilawri Group of
Companies, AWIN Group, The
Humberview Group, Open
Road Automotive Group, Weins
Canada Inc., and The MIERINS
Automotive Group. The agreements are in collaboration
with vehicle auction company ADESA, which owns 50 per
cent of TradeRev.
"The app allows dealers
to start real-time auctions
right on the showroom floor,"
says Mark Endras, CEO and
co-founder of TradeRev. "It can
be used as a sales tool to create transparency for the customer [and is] a great source to
acquire inventory."
Dealers enter vehicles in a

More than 2,500 dealerships
already use the TradeRev
app.

real-time, one-hour online auction. When a winning bid is
accepted, they can opt for floorplan financing or electronic
transfer through TradeRev,
with funds transferred within
48 hours.
The auction allows dealers
to show a customer the actual
trade-in value.
"Data is great, but money
is better," Endras says. "When
the customer is (in the showroom), the dealer says, 'We're
going to launch your car coastto-coast, and they'll bid on your
car when you're here.' They
can see the true market value,
and the dealer can work that
into the sales talk."
While the customer is picking out a new vehicle, there
are bids on the current tradein, "and they see the actual
market value unfold before
their eyes." - ANC

http://joeverde.com/can

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Automotive News Canada - May 2017