When vehicle sales fell off a pandemic cliff in March, the owners of the Kia Victoria dealership rolled up their sleeves and got to work.
Instead of gazing into an empty showroom and service bays, Brad Ostermann and Greg Churchill turned their Government Street dealership into a construction zone, escalating what was supposed to be a minor cosmetic upgrade into a full-blown green renovation.
They spent about $1 million over six months to do a complete overhaul of the aging dealership they acquired the previous fall. That not only included new signage and improvements to layout, access points and furnishings, but a long list of green extras such as solar-panel arrays, heat pump, LED lighting, low-flow plumbing fixtures 鈥� even a bicycle loaner fleet and switching from disposable cups to ceramic mugs.
The dealership continued running operations out of modified shipping containers even as the car market dramatically improved in May and returned to normal levels over the summer and fall.
鈥淚t was long-term intuition,鈥� says Ostermann. 鈥淲e thought we鈥檙e only going to be doing this once in a decade 鈥� why not set ourselves up for dividends down the road?鈥�
Ostermann added: 鈥淚t was a gamble for sure, but for us it made sense to take advantage of the near-empty dealership.鈥�
He said the company is already seeing an impact. They are now 11% 鈥渙ff grid鈥� because of the solar panel array on the south side of the building, with plans to add more panels down the road. Electricity usage was further reduced by 35% through an upgrade to a high-efficiency heat pump and LED lighting indoors and out.
The bike-loan program was an idea from service adviser Jamie-Leigh Lashbrook. The bikes were purchased from nearby shop Russ Hayes and are available for use by customers who drop off their vehicles for servicing. 鈥淲e live in one of the most beautiful cities in the world, with tons of bike lanes and a robust path system,鈥� said Ostermann. 鈥淪o we thought that instead of taking one of our service loaner vehicles, customers should have the choice to take out a bike for a spin. It鈥檚 been great for people commuting downtown, or people just looking for a fun diversion while they鈥檙e waiting. We even supply the helmets and locks.鈥�
Almost all of the $1 million in improvements was spent locally on contractors, suppliers and tradespeople, said Ostermann.
He said the dealership鈥檚 focus on greener day-to-day functions 鈥渢ied in鈥� with Kia鈥檚 focus on electric vehicles.
Kia Motors, which has two electric models now as well as hybrids, has plans to release 11 electric vehicles by 2025. It estimates EV sales will make up a quarter of its overall global sales by then.
Meanwhile, new vehicle sales in British Columbia continue to improve, according to Derosiers Automotive Report, which tracks sales across sa国际传媒.
Sales of all makes in sa国际传媒 during September reached 17,524, a 2% increase from the same month in 2019. Overall, however, sales in the province are down by nearly 24% year over year to 123,007 because of the pandemic.
Electric-vehicle sales continue to rise.
The number of electric vehicles on sa国际传媒 roads has more than doubled in the past year, according to data obtained by the Victoria Electric Vehicle Association in July.
According to ICBC figures supplied to the association following a freedom-of-information request, there were 29,385 electric vehicles on the road on March 31, 2020, compared to 13,727 licensed EVs April 1, 2019.
As of March 2020, there were 5,635 licensed EVs on Vancouver Island and the South Gulf Islands, compared to 2,842 on April 1, 2019.
On Vancouver Island, the municipality with the most EVs was Saanich at 1,291, followed by Oak Bay with 460. Salt Spring Island had the highest ratio of EVs at 21 per 1,000 residents.
鈥� With files from the Vancouver Sun
