VICARIOUS | Perspective: "It's All Personal, Man!"

VICARIOUS - Perspective

“It’s All Personal, Man!”

Don Romano – President and CEO Hyundai Canada Motor Corp.

Story | David Taylor

Back in the late 1980’s, life generally was pretty good for a young man growing up in Southern California. He was just over a year away from completing his Bachelor of Science in Business Administration degree from California State University (CSU) in Long Beach when everything changed.

Living the life of a dude, this young man would spend his spare time doing what many SoCal kids did – he swam and surfed – and yes, he even flew routes for Flying Tiger Line, the first scheduled cargo airline in the United States. Flying was a passion that also helped pay for school. His parents were not wealthy and he was acutely aware of the value that an education could bring.

Federal Express bought the Flying Tigers lock, stock, and barrel and at that moment, the options for Don Romano took a blow. His long-term goal was to be a commercial pilot. Flying for the Tigers was not only a means to an end, it kept him in the air – when he wasn’t in the ocean. A young Romano sat down with the new company and learned he still had a future as a pilot – if he moved then and there, east. A year out from his degree and with his income stream suddenly gone, what was he to do?

Every day he drove the 405 to the CSU campus. He would see the Nissan Motor Corporation building at the side of the highway. One day he took a different exit and ended up walking into Nissan looking for work. He had nothing to lose. What did this kid know about cars or the automotive industry? Nothing. He drove one and that was about it. He needed a job to pay for his tuition so he might complete his degree. Why would Nissan hire a pilot? He reasoned that forward-thinking companies like Nissan would have a need for expertise in marketing – and that was his pitch. The rest, as the cliché goes, is history.

With a CV that looks like an automotive who’s who, Romano worked hard and applied himself. Stints at Nissan, Mazda, and Toyota led to his appointment in 2013 as President and Chief Executive Officer at Hyundai Auto Canada Corp. It was then that the next act in Romano’s eclectic life would occur.

In 2013, Hyundai appeared to be riding the crest of a wave. Reality was an entirely different story. The Canadian Automobile Dealers Association (CADA), the national association representing new car and truck dealers in Canada did not exactly hold the same opinion based upon feedback from the car-consuming public. Acting as the voice of automotive dealers at the national level, CADA serves as an advocate to government, industry and the public. Hyundai was not the darlings of the industry many had believed. Hyundai Canada quite simply needed to change – or its future, short- and long-term, could be in jeopardy.

To hear Romano tell it,

“Hyundai’s customer service scores were embarrassingly low.”

Point of fact, for an automotive company conducting business in a rapidly changing and highly-competitive environment, poor customer service is tantamount to the kiss of death!

Instead of concentrating on the actual symptoms of customer dissatisfaction, management teams at Markham HQ began focusing on the problems that created customer dissatisfaction. Everything known was examined, questioned and if need be, changed or discarded. Nothing was sacred. A cleansing was necessary if Hyundai Canada was to extricate itself from this self-made quagmire. Training academies were created and soon a completely new dealer training and certification program called Signature Certification was implemented. “We even went as far as to form a dealer task force and developed a balanced score card to reward dealers for doing the things customers weren’t expecting – yet probably should have received. Wholesale changes were initiated and, frankly, did not go over well. Change, especially when so dramatic, can be hard to accept – especially from a reticent group of individuals who initially questioned almost everything presented,” stated Romano.

“After two years of hard work to become an industry leader in customer service, the scores from CADA didn’t move.” Hyundai was still wallowing. At that point there was understandably a great deal of pressure from every faction to return to the old way of doing business. “We gave it our best shot and our best didn’t seem to be good enough.”

It was a difficult time for the entire Hyundai team who had grown accustomed to success over the years.

Rather than give up, Romano and his team doubled down on all their efforts and upped the ante. “Training was key to success so we placed more focus on the areas that were most important to our customers. We solicited more help and support from our dealer task force and national dealer council and created mentors to work with our less experienced team members.”

Finally, in 2017, CADA published the results of their latest survey. “We hoped for improvement. Any improvement.” Hyundai Canada had skyrocketed to 4th best in the industry. It was the biggest year-over-year increase since CADA had initiated their survey.

The lesson learned was simple. Never give up doing the right thing. Quitting is easy. Staying the course when the course you establish isn’t working and those around you lose confidence in your vision is extremely hard. A phrase often heard and invariably repeated by Romano has almost become a mantra, “It’s all personal, man!” Success for this man has been earned, hard fought. Few, if any, assumptions are made, no quarter is given – or frankly, expected.

Make no mistake, Romano is no Don Quixote, tilting aimlessly at windmills. This is a man who, pun intended, is driven. He’s a believer. He would never, however, describe himself as a visionary – more of an advocate than anything.

“So we went to work. The time had come to rebuild from the ground up – literally. We overhauled and completely reorganized our field teams.”

Having said that, Romano would cheerfully do all he can to eliminate combustion engines as we know them. Hard to believe coming from the mouth of the CEO of a very successful OEM but Romano is as passionate about this as he is about everything he does.

This is, however, a man who believes in balance and the environment. And we’re not just talking about environment from a green or eco standpoint – which is, as we learned, very important. It’s about commitment. He made the decision years ago to work in Canada. Yes, he likely pays more taxes here than if he was still operating out of the US, but Canada, Stouffville, Ontario is home with his wife of almost 30 years and their four children. He has two distinctly personal happy places – a remote cabin near Park City in Utah and the rustic family cottage in Haliburton, Ontario. When he’s not working, he’s snow skiing, wake boarding or swimming. He is a competitive long distance swimmer and an Ontario Masters Swimming gold medalist. His life, it would appear, on either side of the desk, is best when there are challenges.

Romano is a true believer in alternative fuel sources, especially if it results in reduced or zero carbon emissions and greenhouse gases. In his own way, and using his

influence within the Hyundai global front lines, this man will take on the world, if it means doing something in making a meaningful contribution resulting in the manifestation of his environmental beliefs.

As the head honcho of the Canadian arm of a successful global conglomerate, Romano quickly came to terms with the part of his job that continues to fuel his personal passions.

Electric cars (EVs) are slowly getting cheaper – often without the need for provincial or in part, recent Federal rebates or grants. Plus, pure EVs, generally, can go farther today on a single charge. However, there is still skepticism from the car-buying public. The tipping point when the archetypal shopper for an EV transitions from a (generally) greenminded concerned citizen to a mainstream consumer who wants a practical vehicle that can be driven to more than the local mall without encountering two dreaded words – range anxiety – is not there. Yet. Car shoppers have one major concern: how will I keep an electric car charged while I’m on a long road trip?

Hard to argue that point.

It’s here that Romano the advocate makes a steadfast and sincere appearance. “Look, gas stations are everywhere. In fact a typical highway exit might have several of them, each with banks of pumps at the ready. And the process is fast: filling the tank takes just a few minutes.” There’s rarely any need to plan fueling stops ahead of time – unless your drive is in a remote area. Gas stations of all shapes and sizes are ubiquitous.” When the tank is running low, it’s a simple matter of pulling off at the next exit, filling the tank, and getting back on the highway. Snacks, drinks, and restrooms are usually available there, too.”

“So why can the same situation not exist for alternate fuel sources – EV or otherwise, like hydrogen, for example?”

Fact is, today fast (Level 3) chargers for electric cars are few and far between along main highways. Also, despite advances in charger and battery technologies, it still takes much longer – typically about 20 - 30 minutes with today’s fast chargers – to recharge a battery to 80% than to pump liquid into a tank.

Further exacerbating the situation, EV fast chargers often aren’t located near convenience stores or restaurants. So, while drivers have longer to wait, there’s not much to do but sit in the car while it recharges.

While some are located along highways that have rest stops, others are often in shopping centre parking lots, a long walk from the stores, or sometimes at car dealerships or hotels.

Electric cars don’t need fast chargers all the time, of course. The vast majority of the time, electric cars are charged at home or at work, using chargers that can take six to eight hours. Fast chargers are different. They are designed to quickly fill a car’s battery – not all the way, which would stress the battery, but usually up to about 80% – so people can get on their way.

Fast chargers are usually only needed when people want to go on longer drives. These chargers are important, though, because people considering buying an electric car need to have confidence they can take the occasional road trip.

There is another word that continues to hinder progress.

Infrastructure.

To Romano, a consumer should not be forced to go out of their way to re-fuel. Demand convenience. Often times, in busy urban areas, there seems to be a gas station at most major intersections. They are everywhere. It then becomes a question of brand loyalty and preference. Do I want points or miles?

The solution, while not inexpensive, is obvious – to Romano at least – and he makes a fair point. The actual infrastructure pretty much exists – everywhere. As we rely less on fossil fuels, does that mean that gas stations as we know them will cease to be? No – well, not all of them, and certainly not all at once.

Royal Dutch Shell has recently acquired two electric vehicle charging companies, the European EV charging company NewMotion and GreenLots, a US company that provides software for running EV charging networks. These strategic acquisitions provide another service Shell gas stations can offer customers even as they switch away from gasolinepowered cars.

And this isn’t just happening in the US. In China, BP (British Petroleum) recently announced a partnership with the ride hailing service, Didi to install a network of car charging stations. Furthermore, BP is already rolling out charging stations in its home market, the United Kingdom.

Major oil companies have the ability to initiate change now. It’s a question of desire – and, ultimately, of their appetite. Romano has already had discussions with one on this very matter. The ability to transition exists. Romano is not suggesting total conversion, but a gradual and systematic approach to change. It’s a situation “fuelled” by three stakeholders: oil companies; OEMs; and, government – all levels.

For additional clarification, from Romano’s standpoint, OEMs are not just selling to consumers: these days, they’re also selling to governments.

The chargers themselves aren’t simple, either. While gasoline pump nozzles come in a standard size, there are different types of electric car chargers. Good Lord, have we learned nothing? Beta or VHS, anyone? For instance, Tesla has its own proprietary charging network and its own chargers. Teslas require a special adapter to charge from other chargers, most of which use either the CCS (the world’s only open and universal charging system for electric vehicles, the Combined Charging System) or CHAdeMO (a trade name of a quick charging method for battery electric vehicles) standard – each of which is different from the other.

And this is not just about EVs. Romano and Hyundai are strong proponents of fuel cell (FCEV) technology powered by hydrogen. Hydrogen is a good solution that hits all the right marks. Again, the obvious disadvantage is infrastructure.

A couple of years back, Canadian Tire changed how they fuelled their fleet of tow motors at their Ontario

distribution centre from propane to hydrogen. And yes, they even built their own facility to manufacture the necessary fuel. It was a matter of convenience and, ultimately, economics. “Think about it: how many Canadian Tire stores or gas stations are there in Canada? What if this forwardthinking organization decided to develop their own branded infrastructure?” Romano is quick to point out that Hyundai has presented two zero emissions fuel cell electric vehicles over the past few years: the hydrogen-powered Tucson and most recently, the all-new NEXO – which has a conservative range of 570 kilometres from a full tank.

While Romano has been in the automotive industry for many years now, interestingly enough, he does not have a project car under a drop sheet in his home garage. He’s pretty much the antitheses of a gear head. Don’t misunderstand, he appreciates autos and what they are capable, of and of the contribution they have made to date. There is no midlife crisis either, no mid-engine Euro supercar idling in his driveway. Asked what his perfect everyday vehicle would be, he smiled broadly. “Today or near future? That’s easy! A Palisade – either as an EV or a FCEV. Full-size environmental luxury without compromise!”

Since taking the helm of Hyundai Canada, Romano has been steadily transforming Hyundai into a premium brand through the successful launch of industry-leading products, expansion and redesigning of the Hyundai retail facilities including the effective implementation of more customercentric service processes and certification programs, and the modernization of the retail buying experience through industry-leading online processes like Hyundai Buy Right.

In addition to managing the success of Hyundai, Romano has also been focused on the development and launch of Canada’s fastest growing luxury car brand Genesis. Genesis represents an entirely new, unique retail model, and a first for Hyundai globally, which allows customers to buy a Genesis, hassle free, online direct from the manufacturer with delivery to their home or office.

In summation, “Now we’ve set our goal on being #1. And interestingly enough, that goal wasn’t set by the executive team at Hyundai Canada. It was set by the team members who now believe they can do anything if they put their minds to it. Success breeds success, but only if you have the patience and tenacity to stick with your convictions through thick and thin. Ultimately, persistence will overcome resistance.”