Keyloop is a company that makes software for car dealerships. The host mentions it because it helps dealers run their sales and marketing systems more smoothly.
“Disconnected systems” refers to dealership software and data platforms that don’t communicate well with each other. This can slow down sales workflows, create inconsistent customer information, and make it harder to manage inventory and marketing.
U.S. tariffs are taxes the U.S. imposes on imported goods, including vehicles and auto parts. The segment frames them as a cost and competitiveness challenge for Canadian automaking and import flows.
Allowing credits to be sold creates a market-like mechanism for tariff eligibility. Companies that don’t need all their credits can monetize them by transferring them to other importers.
Group Park Avenue is a car dealership group in Quebec. The story says they’re reducing the number of dealerships and focusing on a smaller group of luxury stores instead of expanding through buying other dealers.
Some dealership groups grow by purchasing other dealership companies. The segment says most groups are doing that, while Park Avenue is doing the opposite.
Electrification means cars are moving away from gas engines and toward electric power. That changes what automakers build and how dealerships sell and service vehicles.
They’re talking about electric cars made in China. Some people worry the car’s electronics could be used to collect information, especially near military sites.
A ban here means the government would stop certain EVs from being sold or imported. The discussion compares it to what other countries have already done.
Fusion is the name of the dealership software platform being discussed. It’s meant to help dealerships manage sales and service in one connected system.
It means the dealership’s software runs online instead of being scattered across separate computer systems. The goal is for sales and service to share information more easily.
After-sales is what happens after you buy the car—like service appointments and maintenance. The point here is to connect it with the rest of the dealership so things don’t feel disconnected.
Back office is the dealership’s internal paperwork and admin work. The idea is to connect it with sales and service so information isn’t trapped in separate systems.
They’re describing a buying experience that flows from the website to the dealership and then continues after the sale. The point is fewer handoffs and less hassle for the customer.
They’re talking about Chinese car brands and how quickly they’ve been growing in Australia. Some have been there a long time, but the recent surge has been especially strong.
They mean Chinese cars have been selling much more strongly lately in Australia. The discussion suggests the market shift is happening faster than before.
Australia has a rule for new cars that tries to cut pollution. If a car emits too much CO2, it faces penalties, so companies are encouraged to sell cleaner, more efficient cars.
The policy mechanism is a penalty tied to CO2 emissions. In practice, this can change what automakers choose to import and sell, because meeting the standard can be cheaper than paying penalties.
They’re talking about different kinds of “electric” cars. A full EV uses electricity only, a plug-in hybrid can be charged like a phone and also has gas backup, and a hybrid uses gas and electric together but usually can’t be plugged in.
Concept
SUVs are around 60% of all light vehicle sales in Australia
They’re saying SUVs make up about 60% of Australia’s light-vehicle sales. That means most buyers are choosing SUVs, so the market is very competitive there.
A warranty is the guarantee from the car maker that they’ll help pay for certain repairs for a period of time. Better warranties can make people more comfortable buying a new brand.
Even after most tariffs were removed, there’s still a smaller “default” import tax of 5%. It can still affect prices, but not nearly as much as the earlier tariffs.
They mention the European Union because, at the moment, it’s the main region still facing notable import taxes into Australia. That can affect how expensive European cars are.
A plug-in hybrid is a car that uses both gas and electricity. You can charge it by plugging it in, and it can often drive on electricity for a while before the gas engine takes over.
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This episode is proudly supported by Keyloop.
Recent research has shown that nearly 70% of dealers are suffering with disconnected systems.
Search Keyloop Fusion to start your transformation journey today.
Hi everyone and welcome to the March 27th, 2026 episode of the Automotive News Canada podcast.
I'm your host, Greg Lason, the digital and mobile editor at Automotive News Canada.
Coming to you from just outside Windsor, Ontario, the automotive capital of Canada.
Today on the show we hear a conversation between Toronto Bureau Chief David Kennedy
and CEO of Australia's Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries, Tony Weber.
The two discussed China's sudden dominance of the Australian new vehicle market,
how it changed over the years, which types of vehicles are popular and why, and so much more.
But first, a look at some of the top Canadian automotive stories of the week.
Ottawa is weighing changes to its auto-tariff relief program
as the industry looks to ease the impact of U.S. tariffs.
Under the proposal, automakers that build vehicles in Canada
could earn the right to import vehicles from the United States without paying tariffs.
They would receive credits for each vehicle assembled here, and if they don't use them,
those credits can be sold to other companies that import from the United States.
Industry groups say the system could help offset rising costs,
but stress the details will determine whether it works.
They add the top priority should still be a deal with Washington to restore free trade.
In retail news, Quebec's Group Park Avenue is going against the grain.
It's shrinking its dealer count while most Canadian groups chase growth through acquisition.
The Montreal area retailer has sold six stores over the past 18 months,
cutting back to a core group of luxury dealerships.
CEO Norman John Abair says bigger isn't always better,
and the company is betting a smaller, more focused footprint will win in a changing market.
The strategy centers on urban, high-end buyers as the industry navigates electrification,
new competition, and shifting consumer expectations.
Abair says the group may grow again, but for now, it's staying selective and focused on Montreal's luxury market.
Finally, we end on the EV front.
National security experts are raising concerns about Chinese electric vehicles,
warning they could pose risks on Canadian military bases.
Some are calling for a ban, saying onboard sensors and connected systems could collect sensitive information.
Countries like Poland and Israel have already restricted Chinese-made EVs over similar concerns.
Ottawa says it's taking note, but has not made any changes yet.
The issue comes as Canada begins opening the door to more Chinese EV imports,
making the debate increasingly political.
And that's a look at some of the top Canadian automotive stories of the week.
You can find more on all those and other stories at our website, automotivenews.ca.
Coming up, a conversation between Automotive News Canada Toronto Bureau Chief David Kennedy
and CEO of Australia's Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries, Tony Weber.
This is Automotive News Canada, and today I want to tell you about something that's transforming dealership operations from the showroom to the service bay.
It's called Fusion, the all-new automotive retail platform from Keyloop.
It's built around four connected domains, demand, supply, ownership, and operate,
bringing your entire dealership together in one powerful cloud-based ecosystem.
Let's face it, most retailers are dealing with systems that don't talk to each other.
A recent survey found that half feel they're using too many logins with the experience for dealers and consumers disjointed.
Fusion solves that.
It connects your digital retailing, inventory, after sales, and back office into one seamless platform,
so your team can focus less on workarounds and more on what matters, the customer.
And it's built for the Canadian market.
Whether you're running a busy metro dealership in Toronto or supporting customers in rural Alberta,
Fusion helps deliver one smooth connected experience from online browsing to in-store purchase to long-term ownership.
It's not just about streamlining operations.
It's about making the experience better for everyone, efficient workflows for your staff, no repeated questions for your customers.
Everything just works.
Keyloop calls it connected retail without the chaos.
And for Canadian dealerships looking to simplify, scale, and stay ahead, it's a smart move.
Want to see it in action?
Search Keyloop Fusion and inquire today to get started.
The all-new Fusion Automotive Retail Platform from Keyloop.
Welcome back to the Automotive News Canada podcast.
I'm your host, Greg Lason.
We'll now hear a conversation between Automotive News Canada Toronto Bureau Chief David Kennedy
and CEO of Australia's Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries, Tony Weber.
Get me started with a little bit of a history lesson here.
When do Chinese automakers begin to gain ground in the Australian market?
The Chinese car manufacturers really have come into the Australian market in a significant way in the last five years.
Right.
But some players have been here for 15 years.
They've been here longer than 15 years.
So they've established a footprint, but we've seen in the last 12 months in particular,
really strong growth from Chinese products.
And last month was a significant month for Australia because for the first time ever,
the number one source market for vehicle sold in Australia was China.
And the significant fact in Australia is that we are one of the very few wealthy nations.
We've got a reasonably sized auto market.
We sell 1.2 million new vehicle sales a year, but we don't have domestic manufacturing.
That production ceased in 2017.
So we have a very liberal market here.
No tariffs, essentially, apart from what's in Europe and no non-tariff barriers.
So quite a unique market in many ways.
A wealthy, but liberalized market.
Yeah, very interesting.
And you say you've seen the Chinese become the top importers in the past month.
Do you expect that to continue for the foreseeable future or is this kind of an aberration this one month?
Well, there might be an element of aberration, but it's very clear in my mind where the trend line is going.
There is real growth here.
China is a significant player, whether they're the main source market or second behind Japan,
is almost in consequential in this debate.
They are a key provider of minor vehicles to the Australian market.
That trend line is very clear and it's not going to stop anytime soon.
Yeah, absolutely.
And take me through what's driving it.
Obviously, here are a lot of things over here in North America on the quality of the vehicles, the cost of the vehicles.
But take me through what's the underpinnings of this growth that you've seen over the past few years.
Well, I think there's a few elements to it.
Number one is Australia has a decarbonisation scheme called the new vehicle efficiency standard,
which penalises vehicles that emit too much CO2.
So a lot of the vehicles coming into the Australian market from China are either full EV, plug-in hybrid or hybrids.
So there's an attraction there.
They've got a large array of vehicles in the SUV market.
SUVs are around 60% of all light vehicle sales in Australia.
So they've got a lot of product in one of the most buoyant segments of the Australian market.
The quality of the vehicles is very good and the price point is good.
So you marry that all together and I think Australians have become less wedded right across the economy.
Not just the automotive, but you know, take things like electrical goods like ovens, TVs, fridges.
Australians are prepared to buy new products and they look at the made of vehicle market and they're prepared to take on new buyers.
So quality product will build good price point warranties, meaning the ticking the low emission box, hence the growth in Chinese sales.
Did you find was there some initial pushback for consumers or some hesitancy from consumers going to a Chinese vehicle or was that not really a thing?
So it is interesting. If you look at the Australian automotive history, there's been wave after wave of this occurring.
So we first obviously before my time, but we had the growth of the Japanese.
But as a kid, I certainly remember more Japanese brands coming into the market and a greater market share.
That's what is really differentiated. The Chinese have gone from essentially zero to a much bigger share of the market very quickly.
Right. No, it makes sense. And you mentioned this a moment ago, but in terms of domestic manufacturing, I know there used to be a number of players in Australia that kind of went by the wayside over the last decade or so.
When it comes to that liberalization of the market that you mentioned, were there safeguards in place before that?
Did you have tariffs on foreign built vehicles coming into the country before that manufacturing went away?
Yeah. So if you go back to the mid 1980s, Australia had tariffs of up to 57.5%. That's a number etched in my brain.
So we had tariffs and we also prior that had quotas.
Australia had a system in which financial support was provided to domestic manufacturing as the tariffs came down.
Essentially, the tariffs were completely eliminated, apart from the 5% general tariff that we have in this country.
And then through free trade agreements, they have been eliminated.
And the only one, only significant market that has any tariff on it today in Australia is the European Union.
But we're just about to negotiate a free trade agreement. And in fact, it might be announced today.
And we expect the F5% will go. So effectively all cars come into Australia, with the exception of Europe, tariff free and non tariff barriers,
which for those in the automotive industry understand can be basic.
There are no real non tariff barriers in the Australian market.
So it's an incredibly liberalized market, very open market and good Australian consumers.
Yeah, and just one thing before we get to consumers, because I would like to get there.
But when it comes to, you mentioned non tariff barriers here.
One thing that we have in North America, of course, is just regulation, safety regulations, emission regulations.
We've got our own set of rules. Does Australia, do you adopt safety regulations from other parts of the world?
Or do you have your own set of codes that automakers need to meet?
So we have Australian design rules, which are pretty minimal.
We're harmonized with the EUE standard, which is also the standard adopted by Europe.
So we're pretty much aligned with the European standards.
There are a few unique Australian design rule stands, but they are very limited.
And safety, there is a non-government body called ANCAP who rates vehicles,
and it is aligned with the European ANCAP system.
So once again, we're pretty much harmonized on standards with Europe.
All right, so if a Chinese automaker is homologated to ship to Europe,
they can essentially ship the same vehicles to Australia.
Yeah, the transition to providing vehicles into Australia if you're going to Europe is pretty straightforward.
Interesting, great.
When it comes to consumers then, you mentioned this a moment ago that it's good for consumers.
As you know, I'm sure North America and Europe and really everywhere has been struggling with affordability on vehicles over the last while,
really since COVID and it's only gotten worse.
Has there been a bit of a softening in Australia?
Have you not maybe felt that quite as extremely as the rest of the world because of these Chinese vehicles?
Or are Australians struggling as well?
Well, I think the thing you need to understand about the Australian market is we're a 1.2 million vehicle market,
which is sort of mid-ranking in the world.
There aren't many markets much bigger than that.
Why don't you take out the big three of the EU, US and China?
But we have in this country at the moment 65 brands competing for 1.2 million sales.
So we have a very demarcated market.
And our expectation moving forward is that 65 is more likely to turn into 75, 80 in the next two years.
So in most of those entrants, we expect will come from China.
So it is a very demarcated market.
And if you look at the average price of a vehicle sold into Australia is around about $60,000.
So it's a very competitive, very open market, which is good for consumers.
So to put that in perspective for 2025 was a record year for new vehicle sales in Australia.
Now, what's driving that is hard to know.
We have very strong population growth through immigration quite similar to Canada.
But still quite a remarkable number that we did have record sales both 25 and 24.
So the market is reasonably strong.
Yeah, yeah, no, that's great.
We alluded to this earlier.
Obviously, everybody thinks of Chinese EVs when we're talking about Chinese built vehicles.
But I just wondered, you know, when it comes to powertrain mix, you know, it sounds like plugins and hybrids are big there as well.
Are the Chinese also bringing in internal combustion engine vehicles?
Oh, they are. Absolutely.
We have what you call pickup trucks.
They're one in five sales in this country.
So there are some new entrants into the Australian market that bring plug-in hybrids in that category.
But they are dominated by diesel drive trains.
So the Chinese brands coming into the Australian market are bringing the full array of drive trains,
whether it's full electric, right through to diesel and petrol and obviously hybridization in the middle.
Right, right.
When it comes to just regulation in the market, is there any concern when it comes from, you know, the incumbent players or government or consumers about a level playing field when it comes to vehicles being shipped into the country?
You know, one of the things that we do know there is at least some subsidy level behind some of the Chinese automakers.
Is that a concern for others?
The philosophy being held in Australia for a long time has been that we want to take the best value products from around the world.
And what's delivered to our shores, if it has been subsidized elsewhere, that's just seen as a bonus.
So we obviously want to eliminate the last major tariff source, which is in Europe.
We're hopeful that will occur in the very near future.
And then we just want to create a competitive environment taking the best what we can from elsewhere.
Yeah.
And let the market decide essentially.
Well, that's right.
Let the consumer decide.
All right.
That does it for this episode of the Automotive News Canada podcast.
We hope you'll join us next time.
So long, everybody.
About this episode
Dealers and retailers are dealing with disconnected systems, and Keyloop’s Fusion platform is pitched as a fix by tying together demand, supply, ownership, and operations in one cloud ecosystem. The main interview shifts to Australia’s auto market, where CEO Tony Weber explains how Chinese brands have surged over the past five years—especially in the last 12 months—driven by decarbonization rules, strong SUV lineups, competitive pricing, and broad consumer openness. He also covers Australia’s liberal import framework, aligned safety standards, and the debate over subsidies and potential security concerns around Chinese EVs.
Tariff relief program; Groupe Park Avenue’s plan; EV security concerns. Plus, Automotive News Canada Toronto Bureau Chief David Kennedy speaks with Tony Weber, CEO of Australia’s Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries. He discusses China’s sudden dominance of the Australian new-vehicle market.
