Automotive News Canada - April 2020 - 11

* APRIL 2020

Starving for sales data during a pandemic
AS THE CANADIAN AUTO
industry navigates its way
through the COVID-19 pandemic, it's imperative that every
automaker report its sales figures
monthly, at
least until the
The next
crisis ends.
To do othquarterly
erwise
would
reporting of
be to rob
sales is in July, dealers, anawhich will tell lysts, journalists, policyus nothing of
makers and
how vehicle
the public of
critical inforsales were
mation at a
affected by the time when
they are all in
pandemic for
desperate
the individual
need of accumonths of April, rate data.
Monthly
May and June. sales
reports
- until
recently a major source of information for those who follow the
industry - have been rendered
essentially obsolete as a significant number of automakers representing a large chunk of the
Canadian new-vehicle market
shift to quarterly reporting.

FROM TORONTO

JOHN IRWIN
COMMENT
It's easy to see why automakers would do so. Quarterly figures
paint a bigger picture and, under
normal circumstances, might
reflect the overall state of the
market more accurately than
monthly reporting. For example,
lackluster sales in February
caused by bad weather could be
balanced by a stronger-than-normal March.
Going quarterly takes the
focus off monthly ups and
downs. Falling short of sales
expectations could lead to a hit
in an automaker's stock price.
And monthly targets could always
lead to unhealthy sales practices
as automakers and dealers slap
major discounts on vehicles to hit
a given number each month.
Quarterly reporting might
make sense in a pre-pandemic
time, even though as a journalist,

2021 HONDA ODYSSEY: The freshened minivan has
a batch of interior upgrades and a tweaked exterior
with new LED headlights. Among the new features is
a rear-seat reminder that gives the driver an audible
alert to check the back seats before exiting. For the
Touring trim, the system is paired with Cabin Watch
cameras that show the rear seats on an infotainment
screen, which Honda says is an industry first. The 2021
Odyssey comes with a 280-horsepower 3.5-litre V-6 and
a 10-speed automatic transmission.

I think the industry as a whole is
better off with the transparency
of monthly reports, in good times
or bad.
But these are not normal
times. Society is in the midst of
an unprecedented crisis, one that
is upending virtually every aspect
of the industry and one that's
changing daily. Gaining a clearer
picture of what's happening
during the crisis as it is unfolding
will prove critical to dealers
scrambling to survive, as it will for
analysts and economists trying to
figure out just how bad things are
and how the industry might eventually claw its way out of the
abyss.
Sales figures in the coming
months will be incredibly ugly.
Customers are staying home,
and buying a new car is far from
the first thing on most people's
minds right now - especially
those who are sick, caring for the
ill or who have lost their jobs as a
result of COVID-19.
I can understand why automakers might not want to make
public year-over-year sales
declines that are shocking to
read. But it's impossible to fully
grasp the scope of the crisis if we

don't have regular, accurate sales
figures. Simply waiting until July
to report how things went during
the height of the pandemic in the
second quarter won't cut it.
After all, we might not be able
to see that a given company's
performance began to improve
(hopefully) in May and June after
a dismal April, providing important context for the industry as it
tries to come back from the
depths of the crisis. Instead, we
might only see that the second
quarter as a whole went poorly,
which will tell us little.

To be sure, there will always
be monthly or even weekly sales
estimates that the industry can
rely on. But they're just that: estimates. In unprecedented times,
it's crucial that we have as clear
and as accurate a picture as possible of what's happening in the
marketplace.
We might not know what the
future holds, but there's power in
knowing what's happening in the
moment. Reinstate monthly sales
reports, at least until things have
returned to some degree of
normal. - ANC

Monthly sales would provide a barometer of how dealerships
- and the entire auto industry - are doing during the
COVID-19 pandemic. F I L E P H O T O

BMW CONCEPT I4: When the automaker launches
the electric i4 midsize sedan in 2021, expect it to look
a lot like this. The Concept i4, based on the 3 Series,
features many exterior elements familiar to
BMW vehicles, including its signature kidney
grille, which BMW says "serves primarily
as an 'intelligence panel' housing various
sensors." The concept has a range of up to
600 kilometres and accelerates to 100 km/h
from rest in about four seconds, with a top
speed "in excess of" 200 km/h, according to
BMW. Its electric drivetrain generates about
530 horsepower.

B y J O H N I RW I N

2021 HYUNDAI ELANTRA: The redesigned small sedan is wider and
lower than its predecessor and is covered in creases and folds. And,
for the first time, a hybrid model is available, which will go head to
head with the Toyota Corolla hybrid. The gasoline model comes with
a 147-horsepower 2.0-litre four-cylinder, while the hybrid comes with
a 139-horsepower 1.6 that's paired with an electric motor and a
six-speed automatic transmission.

2021 KIA SORENTO: The redesigned
utility vehicle might look a lot like the
larger Kia Telluride, and there's good
reason. The automaker modeled the new
Sorento off of its larger sibling, although
the Telluride's headlights are vertical and
detached from the grille. The Sorento's
interior has two digital displays, a 31-centimetre instrument screen and a 26-centimetre
infotainment touch screen. The new model
is slightly longer than before, and a
2.5-litre turbocharged four-cylinder
engine will be available.

BUGATTI CHIRON PUR SPORT: This hypercar is quicker and lighter than the standard Chiron. The Pur Sport gets an 8.0-litre 16-cylinder engine that produces about 1,500 horsepower and 1,180 poundfeet of torque. It has an electronically limited top speed of 350 km/h.
As is always the case with a limited-edition Bugatti, buyers need to
be rich - and speedy - to get one. Pricing starts at about US $3.3
million ($4.6 million) before taxes, according to sibling publication
Automotive News, and only 60 will be built. - ANC

Automotive News Canada - April 2020

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Automotive News Canada - April 2020