Automotive News Canada - February 2021 - 3

SECOND FRONT

3 02.21

* F E B R U A R Y 2021

Ford CEO's trial by fire
Part of the BrightDrop plan is an
electric pallet that helps load the EV600
van and reduce worker fatigue.
PHOTO: GENERAL MOTORS

GM: Electric
vans will
deliver
BrightDrop brand aims
to make the automaker
a player in an expanding
commercial segment
By JOHN IRWIN

AUTOMOTIVE NEWS CANADA

GENERAL MOTORS IS BETTING
that its electric technology and
Canadian manufacturing capabilities
will create inroads to the rapidly growing and increasingly competitive delivery-van segment.
GM plans to build an electric van,
dubbed the EV600, at the CAMI assembly plant in Ingersoll, Ont., starting
in November as part of a $1-billion
investment in the factory. The van will
be sold under GM's new BrightDrop
brand, which will also offer route software and an electric pallet designed to
make deliveries more efficient and less
straining on workers.
Getting the van to customers by the
end of the year " will speak volumes
about our capability, " GM Canada
President Scott Bell said on Automotive
News Canada's weekly podcast in
January.
Ford Motor Co., long the segment's
most dominant automaker in North
America, said last year that it would
build an electric commercial van that
will go on sale this year. GM also faces
competition from startups including
Michigan-based EV automaker Rivian.

SEE BRIGHTDROP PAGE 23

Company veteran
Bev Goodman arrives
to the post amid
multiple concurrent
crises affecting sales
and inventory
across the country
AUTOMOTIVE NEWS CANADA

THE NEW HEAD OF FORD CANADA
is a " competitive " player who takes
over the reins as the industry grapples with unprecedented challenges
and change, say dealers.
" She likes to win, so I think she'll
be really positive for us, " said Kevin
Zimic, dealer principal of Ridgehill
Ford in Cambridge, Ont.
The automaker announced Feb.
1 that Goodman, a 25-year company veteran, would replace Dean
Stoneley, who was named to the
newly created position of general
manager of North America truck for
Ford Motor Co. The appointments
were effective immediately.
" It would be reasonable to say
that she's been very successful in
every position
she's been at with
Ford, and dealers
like to see successful people in
ever-elevating
roles, " said Mark
Hicks, president
of Sherwood Ford
in Sherwood
Park, Alta.
Zimic's advice
Goodman,
to Goodman:
most recently
" Make sure that Ford's marketing
Ford of Canada communications
is getting their
director, assumes
fair share " of
the top job as the
high-demand
auto industry
vehicles.
grapples with the
FILE PHOTO
COVID-19 pandemic as well as an industrywide
vehicle shortage compounded by a
global microchip shortage.
Ford's Canadian new-vehicle
sales, including the Lincoln luxury brand, fell 16.9 per cent in 2020 to
239,368 vehicles.
Still, the Oakville, Ont.-based
automaker remained the country's

Unlike previous CEOs, Bev Goodman
has spent her entire career with
Ford in Canada. Her last role was
marketing communications director.
PHOTO: FORD

top-seller and outperformed the
overall industry, which fell 20 per
cent from a year earlier. Ford grew
its market share to 15.4 per cent
from 14.8 per cent in 2019, according
to the Automotive News Research &
Data Center.

DEALER PLEA: MORE VEHICLES
Ford dealers interviewed by
Automotive News Canada expressed
hope that Goodman would be able
to help them secure inventory for
high-demand vehicles in the coming
months.
Goodman should " make sure that
Ford of Canada is getting their fair
share, which Dean Stoneley did very
effectively and I'm sure she will as
well, " said Zimic.
At one point in the third quarter
of 2020, Zimic's dealership had only
15 vehicles on its lot, far fewer than
the 150 to 180 the store normally
keeps, he said.

Her Canada-centric career path
stands in contrast to Ford's recent
Canadian CEOs, who often held
various roles globally before being
picked to lead in Canada. Stoneley,
for instance, had marketing and
sales roles around the globe, including China, before joining Ford of
Canada. His predecessor, Mark
Buzzell, held roles in the United
States, the Caribbean and Central
America.
Goodman will lead Ford as it prepares to make the transition to electric-vehicle assembly in Canada.
" I look forward to embracing
new ways to serve our customers across the country as we introduce iconic vehicles such as the
Mustang Mach-E,
Bronco and
F-150 hybrid, "
Goodman said
in a statement
announcing her
new role. " We'll
focus on delivering the benefits
of electrification
and connectiviStoneley:
ty to consumers,
Moves to the
including plans
newly created
for the $1.8-billion position
transformation
of general
of our Oakville
manager of
Assembly
North America
Complex to a bat- truck for Ford
tery-electric vehi- Motor Co.
cle manufacturFILE PHOTO
ing facility and
continuing to grow our advanced
connectivity and innovation centres. "
A request to interview Goodman
was declined.
About 7,000 people are employed
by Ford in Canada, including at
its headquarters, regional offices, manufacturing plants and
research-and-development sites.
Ford has a network of more than 400
dealers nationwide. - ANC

5,000 KILOMETRES OF STORIES

EV automaker extends,
broadens research program

PHOTO: DANNY ABRIEL
/DALHOUSIE UNIVERSITY

CAREER MADE IN CANADA

By JOHN IRWIN

TRANS-CANADA NEWS

Developing vehicle batteries with a
longer life span is among Prof. Jeff
Dahn's goals in contract with Tesla.

Goodman, he added, is an executive with a reputation for being
knowledgeable and innovative.
The Montreal native began her
career at Ford Canada as an intern
on the finance team. She went on to
hold other roles related to finance,
parts, service, sales and marketing
over the next 25 years.

HALIFAX, N.S. - A CONTRACT
between Tesla Canada Inc. and
Dalhousie University to explore battery technology has been renewed
for five more years and enhanced.
The research lab headed by Prof.
Jeff Dahn will gain two additional research chairs including one
sponsored by Tesla, which already
co-sponsors Dahn's work.
Dalhousie said in a news release
Tesla has been working with Dahn's
lab since 2016 and filing patents for
Tesla that could enable production

of battery packs with a million-mile
(1.6-million-kilometre) life span.
" Our goal is to continue to help
Tesla develop better advanced batteries for its products, " Dahn said.
- Steve Mertl

Health-care fundraiser
shatters record
PRINCE ALBERT, SASK. -
A 12-hour drive-through radiothon hosted by Mann-Northway
Chevrolet-Buick-GMC-Cadillac in
December raised nearly $600,000
for a new children's unit at nearby
Victorian Hospital, almost doubling

In addition to raising more than
$500,000 for the Victorian Hospital
children's unit, Mark Ripley of
Mann-Northway Chevrolet-Buick-GMC
Cadillac donated $72,000, accepted
by hospital foundation CFO Sherry
Buckler. P H O T O : M A N N - N O R T H W AY

the amount raised in previous years.
The final total of $592,563 included a $72,000 donation to the hospital

SEE TRANS-CANADA PAGE 22

Automotive News Canada - February 2021

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