Jean-Luc Rousseau, who was previously senior principal for Quebec at Templeton Marsh, is no longer with the company, Akhavan said.
Akhavan also expects dealership consolidation in Canada to continue apace, with Quebec being no exception. He pointed to the aging dealer body and arunof14orso“very good years” since the 2008 financial crisis as two key reasons that many dealers are considering selling.
The next five years look like far less of a sure thing, Akhavan said.
“Changes in the geopolitical dynamics of the world, inflation, electric cars, interest rates, thea gency model that the OEMs are looking at, the prohibitive cost of real estate — it’s just all sorts of things that are now leading to potentially a perfect storm.”
Relatively small Canadian dealership groups are staring down these challenges, Akhavan said, and choosing between the greater stability that comes from adding rooftops — or the exit.
“You’ll always find a dealer group that’s got five or six stores that’s going to buy, and then another one that says: ‘Yeah, you know what, I don’t want to do this. I’m going to sell.’ ”
Gagnon will focus nearly exclusively on business development as part of the Templeton Marsh team, Akhavan said.