Campagna puts its 3-wheel speedsters on the Ontario market

The Ontario government has finally relented. Three-wheel vehicles are now street legal in the province. That means Campagna Motors will finally be able to sell its T-REX from coast to coast.

“It’s a vehicle that provides the fun, open-air experience and performance of a bike, the stability of a car and driving characteristics of a car,” is the way Campagna Motors president Andre Morissette describes the T-REX, whose 1.4 L engine can propel its driver and passenger to speeds of up to 250 km an hour.

Morrissette says Campagna vehicles have been on the market since 1995 when they debuted in Quebec. New car dealers such as Groupe Rejean Roy, a five-store group that sells Hyundai, Kia, Mitsubishi and Toyota in Victoriaville, Que., stock them.

He doesn’t think finding space for the product is an issue.

“We find there is space due to restructuring – brands disappear and there is real estate that’s not in use.”

Finding the right salesperson to sell the three-wheelers is the issue.

“What we look for is more than real estate. It’s selling the product with passion, not the basic square footage in the showroom.”

He recommends someone who drives a T-REX and shares the customer’s passion for the vehicle.

“We need to have a salesperson who lives the lifestyle … Owners have clubs, group rides over the weekend and the salesperson should foster that,” he says.

Morrissette says his company supplies parts and the equipment needed for maintenance as well as the training for the technicians and salespeople.

Another argument in favour of the T-REX is it’s not competition for any of the dealer’s existing products. But it is a way for the dealer to win a larger share of the customer’s business.

The typical T-REX owner, he says, is a suburbanite who owns a garage.

And because it’s a seasonal vehicle, not a daily driver, the owner doesn’t have to live near the dealership. He says customers will come from all over to buy one.

He says Campagna sells 65 to 70 of the three-wheelers a year in the Greater Montreal area.

“We expect Ontario to carry a market of 100 vehicles a year quite rapidly.”