Now that is customer service: Steve Lussier, mayor of Sherbrooke in Quebec Eastern Townships, was ready for a new car, and as a hybrid vehicle owner for the past 15 years, wanted something electric.But his long-trusted Infiniti-Nissan dealership the one he bought his Infiniti Q50 Hybrid and (rare) Nissan Pathfinder Hybrid (still owns it) from didnt have a new 100-per-cent electric model to offer him.Odds are it wont for another two or three years.So the dealership pulled some strings and got him what he wanted, a used 2018 Tesla Model 3 with just 30,000 kilometers on the clock, traded in by a local businessman.In one day, the transaction was done, says Lussier, who took delivery of the well-equipped full-electric sedan last Friday. I still have discover some of its features its such an advanced-techno car but for now, I very happy about it.Our story would normally end here, but Infiniti Sherbrooke posted about the deal on its social media and inadvertently inspired numerous blog posts blowing the whole thing up headlines along the lines of mayor turning green or Infiniti dealership admits it doesn’t have electric models.The dealerships Facebook page was flooded with comments about how the brand, in an effort to retain a loyal customer, instead lost him to Elon Musk, or how Infinitis doing Teslas marketing for it.Jean-Sbastien Poulin, co-owner of Infiniti de Sherbrooke, cant believe all this fuss when, bottom line, his client wanted an electric car. Infinitis brand doesnt have yet an electric car. So I found a solution.There are plenty of dealerships that sell other brands vehicles to accommodate their customers why all these roadblocks suddenly thrown at us?And of course, Infiniti isnt the only luxury brand without a pure electric offering. Try shopping for EVs at Acura, Mercedes-Benz, Lincoln, Cadillac, Land Rover or even Lexus, the haut-de-gamme arm of hybrid hype-builder Toyota. Yes, Lussier could have bought an Infiniti-adjacent Nissan Leaf, a good vehicle (he) recently test-drove for a whole week, but he says its not where I wanted to go. Ditto the thought of heading to Sherbrooke BMW for a new i3.He wasnt content waiting a year on an admittedly attractive new Polestar, and could have been lured into a Jaguar I-Pace if the brand had had staff on hand to answer his questions when he visited the Salon du véhicule électrique in Saint-Hyacinthe last October. Oops.But then, Lussier was already hooked on a Tesla anyway. I put a $1,000 a year ago to reserve a brand-new one, he told Driving.ca. After a test drive last summer, he fell in love with the Californian electric sedan. One of my municipal councillors already owns one, and he loves it, too.Lussier didnt suddenly turn green either. (Next week at city hall,) we are going to announce additional funding to help our citizens finance their home EV-charging stations, the Mayor confided to this author.We have been doing so with a $500 municipal subsidy since 2013, but it became so popular, with more than 300 requests a year, we had to review the budget allowance. So well reveal something else next Monday.Even greener, Lussier says hes set to purchase his first electric motocross bike from the local Valcourt Bombardier (BRP), which last February bought up the now-defunct California-based Alta all-electric motorcycle company.Asked if he will eventually buy an electric Infiniti when they hit the Sherbrooke showroom, Lussier says Im eager to test-drive what my dealership will offer, but if ever I want to buy another Tesla, I know that once again, it will accommodate
Origin: An Infiniti dealership sells a Tesla to Sherbrooke’s mayor – and everybody goes crazy
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The first North American Polestar dealership will be in Montreal
The Polestar 2 features a 440-kilometre full-charge range and a price of $69,000 for a fully loaded model.Polestar Volvos tuning-arm-turned-full-EV-manufacturer, Polestar, is opening its first dealership in North America. The location chosen for the premiere store? Montreal.According to Automotive News, the Swedish brand, now owned by Chinese company Geely, will open up its first retail store on Groupe Park Avenue, in Brossard, Quebec near Montreal.Hugues Bissonnette, a Quebec native, has been appointed the brands Canadian manager. Hugues was most recently the director of sales operations for Volvo Cars Canada; now he will spearhead all of Polestars Canadian commercial efforts.Hugues has the right skill set, developed over time working in both the Americas and Europe, and I am confident he will have great success launching Polestar in Canada, Gregor Hembrough, head of Polestar in the Americas, said in a statement. The company calls the dealerships Polestar Spaces, and this latest Space will be run in partnership with Groupe Park Avenue, which runs 18 auto dealerships split between 12 different brands. The Polestar dealer will have no inventory, however; the vehicles will be made to order.On top of this principal Space, there will also be smaller retail Spaces in high-traffic areas closer to downtown that can house two or three cars and a few no-commission product specialists and demonstrators.Polestar Montreal will open in 2020, and will be followed by Polestar Spaces in Toronto and Vancouver before making its way down to the
Origin: The first North American Polestar dealership will be in Montreal
Dealership creates the convertible Challenger that Dodge won’t
A North Carolina dealership has created the Challenger convertible that Dodge wont build from the factory.Ford and Chevrolet have convertible versions of their modern pony cars, but Dodge has never personally stepped up to the game and created its own, and its seeming more unlikely as the platform ages.Tired of waiting, Keffer Dodge, Chrysler, Ram and Jeep sent three Challengers off to a shop named Convertible Builders in Florida, which chopped off the top and added a soft fabric version that opens and closes with the push of a button.According to Motor Authority, the conversions were done to a standard Challenger and two R/T Scat Pack models, one fitted with the 485-horsepower 6.4-litre HEMI V8; and the other with a 5.7-litre V8 that makes 375 horsepower. All three come with automatic transmissions for optimum cruising.The gray, white, and red cars are listed at US$64,000, US$60,000 and US$56,300, respectively. That means that the conversion of the vehicle to convertible costs about US$16,000 on top of the base price of an automatic Challenger.Theres no telling what Convertible Builders has done to improve the structural integrity of the Challenger so it can handle the loss of a roof, but from the name of its shop, we can guess this isnt their first rodeo. Perhaps in the future, these conversions will even be seen as a classic move, and command a premium for their
Origin: Dealership creates the convertible Challenger that Dodge won’t
Thieves steal 124 wheels in a single night at a Louisiana dealership
A row of vehicles with stolen wheels at Matt Bowers Chevrolet in Slidell, LouisianaSlidell Police Department Thieves stole the wheels from 31 vehicles as they sat on a car dealer’s lot in Slidell, Louisiana. Police reported that 124 tires and rims were taken, valued at some US$120,000. The stripped vehicles were discovered on the morning of April 27 by a manager when he arrived to open the store. The theft took place at Matt Bowers Chevrolet, where many of the cars and trucks were propped up on blocks following the theft – although the thieves were kind enough to leave the lug nuts on the ground beside most of them. Dealership owner Matt Bowers had recently been in the news for buying billboards that criticized the NFL when referees didn’t call a penalty during a championship game, resulting in the New Orleans Saints losing to the Los Angeles Rams and a shot at the Super Bowl. A Chevrolet Tahoe with stolen wheels at Matt Bowers Chevrolet in Slidell, Louisiana Slidell Police Department However, police didn’t make any connection between the billboards and the theft. Instead, they suspect it’s the work of a professional theft ring, especially since the thieves got past alarms and surveillance video, and “went as far as manipulating the exterior lights in the parking lot so nobody could see them working during the darkness,” said Slidell Police chief Randy Fandal. Similar thefts had been previously reported at dealerships in Denton, Texas, and in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Security video captured footage of two men cutting the entrance locks at 3 a.m., and driving a U-Haul truck into the rear parking lot. The truck left about 40 minutes later, although police suspect that it took several hours to remove all the tires, and that the truck had only been brought in at the end to load up the stolen goods. Surprisingly, while wheels were stolen off some trucks and sport-utilities, most of the vehicles hit were Malibus that weren’t equipped with higher-end rims. At a news conference, Matt Bowers announced he was putting up a $25,000 reward for any information leading to an arrest and
Origin: Thieves steal 124 wheels in a single night at a Louisiana dealership
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