Joining with a real estate company that stages homes has allowed BMW to place high-end BMW vehicles in the driveways of luxury homes for sale in Toronto, which proved an effective way to reach new customers. 

A website ticker on a dealer’s homepage that displays the number of cars on the lot provides a simple piece of information that can make or break a deal.

Even without provincial rebates for electrics, Dartmouth-based Steele Chevrolet-Buick-GMC-Cadillac is positioning itself by starting the conversation with customers. "Collectively we have made the decision to lean in and be a leader in Atlantic Canada,” says Peter Porteous, vice-president of business development.

Mazda Canada has made a conscious decision to go to market with its traditional GX, GS and GT grade system, with its national manager of product strategy saying "there's a fine line between offering the customer too much and not enough."

Volkswagen Canada said that while there were certain consumers for whom front-wheel drive was an effective purchase, the take rate on front-wheel drive in these products is “really low” in Canada.

The Genesis sales model used in Canada is being watched closely by the brand’s top brass. “We're learning an awful lot as a global organization on just how much the Canadian leadership was listening to the customer," says Mark Del Rosso, CEO of Genesis Motors North America.

Nissan Canada President Steve Milette says a move away from fleet sales is behind the brand’s deeper-than-average decline in Canadian sales volume over the past few months.

Riding on a new platform, the latest Sentra features a bigger engine, new independent rear suspension and dual pinion rack electric power steering -- changes Nissan hopes will help lure younger buyers to the compact sedan when they consider their first vehicle at a key "career milestone."

Inventory will be held off-site away from retail locations, which will be on very small footprints centrally located in urban areas, says Hugues Bissonnette, Polestar’s Canadian manager.

Canadian dealerships can boost this profit centre without damaging their brand image; they just have to learn how. Consumers who have average credit ratings but higher debt-to-income ratios are more desirable than the nonprime buyers of the past.

Customers with less-than-perfect credit need cars, too; dealers can tap into that market, but they have to go about it the right way.

While it’s common for dealerships to offer relocation bonuses for typically hard-to-fill positions such as service technician, Steele Auto Group, headquartered in Dartmouth, N.S., is offering up to $7,500 in relocation assistance on jobs across the board — and it's working.

Employees at Volvo Cars New Brunswick built a portable showroom from two six-metre shipping containers, and it conforms to Volvo’s corporate branding standards.

Lincoln won’t offer Canadians the entry-level Aviator being sold in the United States, where it comes with cloth seats and is rear-wheel drive. The Reserve trim level, with leather upholstery and all-wheel drive, will start at $71,100 in Canada. 

The Cadillac XT6 arrives for the 2020 model year with no lower-priced luxury base model and instead jumps straight into premium luxury, priced from $64,098, followed by the Sport trim, which starts at $66,898.