Sometimes, the best way to learn how to swim is to dive right in. The same could be said for dealerships selling and servicing electric vehicles.
Three years ago, despite research suggesting that many people were hesitant about EVs, Brittany Deveau scooped up 48 EVs. The general manager of Bruce Hyundai in rural Nova Scotia even bought some from dealerships that didn’t want them.
A risky move?
“It was incredibly bold,” said Paul Jobson, director of marketing and strategy for the eight-dealership Bruce Automotive Group in Yarmouth, N.S., which owns Bruce Hyundai, 230 kilometres northeast in New Minas.
“We thought we saw demand for 10 [EVs].”
Deveau’s intuition served her well. Bruce Hyundai met that 10-EV estimate within two months, and within six months it had sold all 48 Kona and Ioniq 5s.
It was the beginning of a new era for the Bruce group, which sells about 4,000 new and used Honda, Ford, General Motors, Hyundai, Mazda and Chrysler vehicles a year, Jobson said.
And it had much to learn.
SCRAMBLING TO SERVICE