Manufacturing & Transport
I have to admit I’m a little nervous. It’s my first day on the sales floor at OpenRoad Toyota in the Richmond Auto Mall and I keep thinking of Jimmy Pattison, who used to keep the sales kernels popping in his car-dealership frying pan by firing the bottom sales person at the end of each month. I’m relieved to find the mood disarmingly relaxed.
The CEO is feeling a little rattled. It’s his first business trip to Japan and he must impress potential customers, which means demonstrating some newly acquired cultural know-how. At first things go well. He bows in accordance with traditional etiquette...
With the Port Mann Bridge acting as the Achilles Heel of GVRD traffic systems, Charles Montgomery takes the passenger seat with B.C. Transportation Minister Kevin Falcon at the helm to learn why Falcon is pushing for the Gateway expansion project and what exactly this crisis, on overdrive to a collision course, means for the Province's economy.
I first lusted over the car I’m now test driving parked outside the shop doors off Vancouver’s Main Street with another six cars parked inside in various states of assembly. Glossy and pulsing red, it stood out from the blues, blacks and silvers of the other Intermeccanicas in assembly.