Entrepreneur de-mystifying car ownership hosts Vancouver Women's Auto Show

Apr 7 2023, 3:00 pm

The Vancouver entrepreneur behind a new company bent on making car ownership more accessible for women is hosting its first-ever Women’s Auto Show this month.

Making Auto Easy is hosting the event on April 13 at the Jim Pattison Toyota dealership downtown, and it will feature workshops on car maintenance, vehicle demos, as well as drinks, canapes, and goodie bags.

Vivian Liu, founder of Making Auto Easy, is using the event to officially launch her company to the world. She’s worked in the auto industry for the past eight years with General Motors and Autozone, and is sick of how male-dominated it is. Plus, it’s been a long-time dream of hers to host her own auto show.

“Women have all this purchasing power — they influence the majority of car purchasing. Yet many wouldn’t go to a dealership without a man,” Liu said.

“We still hear a lot of stories about women going into dealerships and being disrespected and ignored, taken advantage of, or the salespeople will talk to their husbands or brothers but not them,” she added. “It’s something I find really frustrating.”

She wants to help women understand car-buying in a way the industry hasn’t cared to facilitate before.

She pitches Making Auto Easy as “your new bff” when it comes to all things cars — from purchasing one to maintaining it. It’s an online service, with paid and premium versions, that acts as a matchmaking service between car-buyers and vehicles on the market.

Users can visit Making Auto Easy’s website, fill out a brief survey about their needs, and the site will narrow down hundreds of thousands of model options to a couple dozen potentials. For $49, paid users can get unique and tailored recommendations about the precise vehicle models that suit their needs and budget.

“You go to websites like AutoTrader and you’re looking at things like transmission and drive train, and most women, most people, don’t actually understand what those things are. So what I want to do is help people at the early discovery researching phase of their buying journey.”

On Instagram, you’ll find Liu creating short educational videos on topics from oil changes to electric vehicles to frequency of car payments.

Liu was inspired by Bumble, a company that used a women-first angle to provide a new service in its industry. Now it’s time for the auto industry to change, she says.

“My goal is to build something that’s going to empower women to make smart and confident car-buying decisions,” she said.

Making Auto Easy Women’s Auto Show

When: Thursday, April 13
Time: 6 to 9 pm
Where: Jim Pattison Toyota Downtown — 1290 Burrard Street
Cost: Free, but registration via Eventbrite is required

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