2022 Automotive News Canada All-Stars

Brittany Deveau is a smart risk-taker. She was just weeks into her new role as general manager of Bruce Hyundai, a small dealership in the mostly rural community of New Minas, N.S., and ready to make a bold move.

It was January 2020, in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, and many customers were hesitant about buying cars, let alone electric vehicles.

But acting on a hunch, Deveau acquired 48 Hyundai EVs, reasoning that if the idea didn’t pan out, she could sell those cars to Quebec dealerships as the province subsidizes EVs.

Instead, Bruce Hyundai sold 10

Kona and Ioniq 5 EVs in two months and the entire inventory within six months. The move was “incredibly bold,” said Bruce Jobson, director of marketing and strategy for the eight-dealership Bruce Automotive Group, which owns the Hyundai store.

Deveau, 34, said having EV inventory established Bruce Hyundai as the EV leader in southwest Nova Scotia. Deveau is an outspoken advocate for women in automotive retail and notes her own success with the Bruce group, which she joined 15 years ago.

“I work for a very progressive, fast-growing automotive group,” she says. “The sky’s the limit.”