Dealers – LSD News

Chinese EVs are coming to Canada, and some dealers can’t wait to sell them

LSD News Szerkesztőség — Sat, 16 May 2026 03:40:02 +0000

HALIFAX, Nova Scotia — Michael MacGillivray sees the arrival of Chinese electric vehicles in Canada as a potential game changer.

“I think it is going to a be a huge eye-opener,” said MacGillivray, who oversees 10 dealerships in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, Canada.

As the CEO of Century Auto Group and Sigma Auto Group, MacGillivray is working to become one of the dealers in the country who will sell imported Chinese EVs. In April, he went to the Beijing Auto Show with other dealers from Canada to establish relationships with Chinese automakers and get a feel for the cars and SUVs they could eventually export to his country.

“When I was in China, I was very impressed by the Chinese vehicles,” he said. “They have materials that are second to none. Their styling is impressive. The ride is very impressive.”

Not everyone likes the idea of Canada allowing the sale of EVs imported from China.

The Canadian Vehicle Manufacturers’ Association said the decision to allow the sale of Chinese-made EVs was deeply concerning.

President Donald Trump is even more harsh, calling the move “a disaster.” U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy posted on X, “Canada will live to regret the day they let the Chinese Communist Party flood North America with their EVs.”

Officially, Canada is allowing just 49,000 Chinese-made EVs to be imported for retail sales annually at a tariff rate of 6.1%, a fraction of the 100% tariff that is in place for all other vehicles China would export to Canada.

That lower tariff for EVs has convinced Chinese automakers it’s time to set up dealerships.

“We received nearly 400 inquiries from different dealers across Canada who are very interested and excited to represent any of these Chinese brands,” said Farid Ahmad, CEO of DSMA, an auto dealership broker in suburban Toronto.

Ahmad is connecting dealers with Chinese automakers like BYD, Geely and Chery.

“I think from their perspective it gives them a foothold in the North American market,” he said.

General Motors, Ford, Toyota and Hyundai sell the most vehicles in Canada, according to S&P Global. Last year, industry sales topped 1.9 million vehicles, slightly more than all of the vehicles sold in California in 2025.

Limiting the number of China EV sales with a low tariff to just 49,000 vehicles is one way for Canadian leaders to put guardrails on allowing the Chinese to enter Canada’s auto market.

“They’re being careful in terms of how much volume is being allowed in,” said Michael Robinet, vice president of forecast strategy for S&P Global Mobility, an automotive industry consulting firm. “Anywhere between 3% to 5% of the market is sizable but, nonetheless, not something that will change the competitive dynamic significantly.”

On the street here, Canadians told CNBC they are curious and eager to have the chance to buy electric models from China.

“I think they will destroy the market in a good way,” said Canadian Patrick Hunt.

“So, definitely more chances, more options for people to choose different vehicles,” Canadian Daniel Haim said, “With what’s going on with gas prices, I think that it’s going to work out well for any Chinese manufacturer coming here, especially with electric vehicles.”

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Social media fuels fentanyl crisis as drug dealers take to platforms to connect with minors

LSD News Szerkesztőség — Fri, 13 Sep 2024 10:57:11 +0000

DEA continues countrywide fentanyl awareness summits with event in Alhambra

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Fentanyl overdoses have become a leading cause of death for minors in the last five years or so, even as overall drug use has dropped slightly. In a 2022 analysis of fentanyl-laced prescription pills, the DEA found that six out of 10 contained a potentially lethal dose of the drug.

And social media, where tainted, fake prescription drugs can be obtained with just a few clicks, is a big part of the problem. Experts, law enforcement and children’s advocates say companies like Snap, TikTok, Telegram and Meta, which owns Instagram, are not doing enough to keep children safe.

In 2022, two weeks after she turned 17, Coco left home just outside New York City to meet with a dealer she’d messaged through Instagram who promised to sell her Percocet, her mom, Julianna Arnold, recalled recently. She never made it home. She was found dead the next day, two blocks from the address that the guy had provided her.

Whatever the dealer gave Coco, her mother said, was not Percocet. It was a fake pill laced with fentanyl, which can be lethal in a dose as small as the tip of a pencil.

Mikayla Brown lost her son Elijah, who went by Eli, to a suspected fentanyl overdose in 2023, two weeks after his 15th birthday. His father found him unresponsive on a September morning last year. His cause of death was accidental fentanyl overdose. But he wasn’t trying to buy fentanyl, he was looking for Xanax, and, like Coco, ended up with tainted pills that killed him.

A framed photo of Elijah Ott, who died of a fentanyl overdose at 15, stands next to a vase of flowers as his mother, Mikayla Brown, works in the kitchen in Atascadero, Calif., Friday, Aug. 2, 2024.

Jae C. Hong / AP

Rampant availability

While data on the prevalence of drug sales on social platforms is hard to come by, the National Crime Prevention Council estimates that 80% of teen and young adult fentanyl poisoning deaths can be traced to some social media contact.

In a sweeping 2023 report on the problem, Colorado’s attorney general called the availability of fentanyl and other illicit substances online “staggering.”

Report: drug sellers use social media for fentanyl sales in Colorado

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“Due to their ubiquity, convenience, and lack of regulation, social media platforms have become a major venue for drug distribution,” the report said. “Where once a teen might have had to seek out a street dealer, hassle friends, or learn to navigate the dark web to access illicit drugs, young people can now locate drug dealers using their smartphones — with the relative ease of ordering food delivery or calling a ride-share service.”

Accidental overdoses in the U.S. have decreased slightly each year since 2021 according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Paul DelPonte, executive director and CEO of the National Crime Prevention Council, attributes this partly to more education and awareness about the issue. Among young people ages 0 to 19, there were 1,622 overdose deaths in 2021, then 1,590 in 2022, and 1,511 last year.

The decline, DelPonte said, is “very small.”

Response from social media platforms

In a statement, Meta said drug dealers “are criminals who stop at nothing to sell their dangerous products. This is a challenge that spans across platforms, industries, and communities, and it requires all of us working together to address it.”

The company added that it works with law enforcement and proactively took down 2 million pieces of content, 99.7% before they were reported in the first three months of 2024.

Meta says it blocks and filters “hundreds” of terms associated with illicit drug sales and links to recovery and substance abuse resources when possible. But drug dealers and other bad actors constantly shift their strategies, coming up with fresh ways to avoid detection.

Snap, in a statement, said it is “heartbroken by the fentanyl epidemic and are deeply committed to the fight against it.”

“We’ve invested in advanced technology to detect and remove illicit drug-related content, work extensively with law enforcement helping to bring dealers to justice, and continue to raise awareness and evolve our service to help keep our community safe. Criminals have no place on Snapchat,” said Jacqueline Beauchere, Global Head of Platform Safety at the company.

Extended: Rep. Angie Craig, Sen. Amy Klobuchar introduce new bill to battle fentanyl trafficking

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While it can happen on any social media site, experts often single out Snapchat as a particularly dangerous platform, something the company vehemently disagrees with. In October 2022, a group of parents who say their children bought fentanyl from drug dealers they met through Snapchat sued the company for wrongful death and negligence, calling it a “haven for drug trafficking.”

Advocates are hoping that regulation of tech companies could help address the problem, as it might help with other dangers kids face on social media. In July, the Senate passed the Kids Online Safety Act, legislation designed to protect children from dangerous online content. It still awaits a vote in the House. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., and Sen. Roger Marshall, R-Kan., meanwhile, introduced a bill that would require social media companies to report illicit fentanyl, methamphetamine and fake pill activity occurring on their platforms to law enforcement.

“We must do more at the federal level to combat the flow of fentanyl into our communities, and it starts by holding social media companies accountable for their part in facilitating illicit drug sales,” Shaheen said.

Amazon will allow auto dealers to sell cars on its site, starting with Hyundai

LSD News Szerkesztőség — Thu, 16 Nov 2023 18:36:16 +0000

Attendees view a Hyundai vehicle during opening day of the 2023 New York International Auto Show (NYIAS) in New York, on Wednesday, April 7, 2023.

Stephanie Keith | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Amazon next year will allow auto dealers to sell cars through its site, starting with South Korean automaker Hyundai, the company said Thursday.

The company has slowly muscled its way into the car-buying business over the years, launching digital showrooms on its site for shoppers to research and compare vehicles, but not buy them directly through Amazon. Consumers can also buy car products, such as replacement parts, through its site.

Beginning in 2024, Amazon will let shoppers purchase a new car online, then pick it up or have it delivered by their local dealership. Consumers will be able to search for available vehicles in their area, make a selection, then check out on Amazon using their preferred payment and financing method. The company said the new feature will “create another way for dealers to build awareness of their selection and offer convenience to their customers.”

Amazon CEO Andy Jassy said the partnership with Hyundai will change “the ease with which customers can buy vehicles online.” As part of the deal, Hyundai will also include Amazon’s Alexa voice assistant in its cars starting in 2025.

Shares of online used car retailers Carvana and Carmax slid more than 7% and 6%, respectively, following the news.

With the move, shoppers will be able to buy cars on Amazon, but the dealer is still the end seller. Traditional automakers such as Hyundai have complex relationships with dealers that are backed, in many states, by laws that make it difficult or illegal to bypass franchised dealers and sell new vehicles directly to consumers.

Tesla and other electric vehicle start-ups such as Rivian have developed workarounds in many states to sell vehicles directly online to consumers. They include originating the sale in states that don’t outlaw the practice, or taking legal action to fight such laws, as they have done in Michigan.

There are less stringent laws regarding used vehicle sales, which makes it easier for companies such as Carvana and others to sell pre-owned cars and trucks online directly to consumers.