Posted by Nick Aroutzidis on Aug 03, 2017
August 10, 2017: Gordon Slater, Stratford Summer music, “31 yrs the Voice of the Peace Tower Ottawa”.   John Miller will introduce and John Wright will thank our speaker.

Head Table:  Our President Linda Bathe, invites, John Miller, Ron Bean, Guy Bellehumeur, Norm Bird, Roger Black, Carolyn Blackburn and Bill Braun, to join her at the head table.
 
This Week: Our speaker today was Dennis DesRosiers of Automotive Consultants Inc.  Dennis is one of the leading automotive analysts in Canada.  The industry is a hot topic in the media, but much of this is hype.  Politics and reality can be very different.
 
Guess Speaker Dennis Desrosier speaking on the automotive industry and debunking myths.
 
“Disruptors” are new products that transform an industry, the automobile being the best example which moved us from horse and buggy to cars in only 10 years.  Many analysts believe the auto industry is ripe for disruption, and Dennis wanted to bring some reality to these reports.
 
  • “Millennials no longer embrace the car or car culture”.  This is somewhat true in the U.S., but in Canada we had 9 million more gasoline fueled cars in 2015 than in 2000 (15 years)
  • It was thought in 2000 that hybrid cars would account for 10% of the market by 2010, and 25% by 2025.  The reality is that Hybrids only account for 1% of the market and this number is going down.
 
Dennis believes hybrids and electric cars will not be “disruptors” in the industry for 10-30 years despite Tesla, which reports 500,000 orders for cars in North America.
 
He mentioned two factors that could significantly impact the industry:
 
  1. UBER (Ride Sharing Generally).  94% of the time our vehicles are not used.  Ride sharing/co-ownership could impact the industry, but is not yet a factor.
  2. Autonomous vehicles – car technology that recognizes things around the car and the car reacts accordingly.  (Mercedes is now selling a hands-free cars).  Fully autonomous vehicles would arrive driverless to pick people up.
 
Dennis concluded by stating that in Canada our governments receive $20 billion in tax revenue on gasoline annually and would move the tax to electric cars if they gain significant market share.  He feels that because of external/political factors the automotive industry will not see dramatic change anytime soon.
 
Dennis was introduced by Ian Fisher and thanked by Ron McKay.
 
Scribe:  Gordon Sherwin
 
NEW MEMBER:
 
Our newest member Debra Swan (Director Central Food Depot) introduced by Rick Orr.
 
Draw: Today three prizes were donated by our guest speaker Dennis Desrosier and John Carruthers, Bill Lemon and Brent Shackleton were the winners.
 
Guests: Today we welcomed; Colleen Devine, John Woollatt, Doug Brown, Vida Petrasiunas, Lucy Petrasiunas, Nancy Orr and Redie Nelayo.
 
Make-ups: Fritz Steigmeier, August 1, 2017 at the FCRC.
 
August’s Attendance Committee:  Bob Gulliford (I/C), Nick Aroutzidis, Jim Hayes, Mike Gruszcynski, Bryan Lapier, Arlene Pol, Steve Monteith, Dan Scarborough, Josef Frank, Norm Bird.
 
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