Trento Motors’ Renzo Moser a community builder

It’s been a long road to where the community is today and it’s taken the hard work of many people. One of which is Emery Village Community builder, Renzo Moser. He was one of the first business people to establish the commercial viability of Steeles Avenue West with Trento Motors in 1973. But he didn’t stop there. Since then, he’s sold Fiat, Alfa Romeo, Lada, Suzuki, Subaru, Mitsubishi, Suzuki, and Chrysler. He employs around 70 people and has employed hundreds since the late 50s.

It was in Northern Italy in the town of Trento, just after World War II, when a tragedy would change his and his family’s life forever. When Renzo was 11, his older brother had his hand blown apart by unexploded ordinance left abandoned in a field. With his older brother unable to work, Renzo abandoned his farm chores to begin man’s work in a local repair shop. His Mother stayed home to tend the farm and his father sent money home and was away mostly. The 11 year old boy, of which much was expected, suddenly and unexpectedly, had no one to look to — except to the boy looking back in the mirror. But worry was a luxury and he couldn’t afford. It was time to work.

Renzo Moser came to Canada in 1957 when he was 19 - with no money. Two years later, after working and saving what money he could, he bought a garage. From there, he built his business one work order and one customer at a time. We asked him what his secret was and he said quietly and humbly, “You have to love it…You have to love to work”.

“Fear is a great motivator. When moving to Canada, fear of failure motivated me more than fear of the unknown. I was never afraid of trying, which to me meant just working hard, working toward your goal… Yes, there are others in the car business that may do some things better than me, but that’s ok.” In fact, Renzo applauds the success of others in the industry, many of whom Moser himself tutored and employed. Renzo only really competes with himself and lets the rest take care of itself.

Renzo has made a career out of bringing unknown car brands to Canada. He did it with Suzuki, with Subaru, with Fiat, and he did it again with Kia. Now, Kia is one of the hottest brands in Canada and is showing no signs of stopping. As Moser puts it, “I’ve worked with several brands in my career and I can say that Kia is working very hard to be the best. They work well with the dealers, they have very aggressive prices, and they try very hard to give back to the community.”

Currently, Kia Canada is running a program called DriveChange where they encourage their dealers to actively give back to their communities. Some dealers volunteered an hour of their time to help clean up a park or other community activities of the like. Trento Kia is doing a used soccer equipment drive and is hoping the Emery Village community will step up and help. “Kia Canada is looking for gently used soccer and sports equipment to give to underprivileged children looking to get involved in sports. We need your help to make this drive a success. We have a Kia Soul in our showroom that we’re looking to fill with used sporting equipment. We’re calling it ‘Fill Our Soul Equipment Drive’”.

Trento Motors is here to stay. In fact, they recently moved locations to a much larger showroom up the street on Steeles Ave. As long as Renzo’s around, you can expect to see him in his showroom, often talking to customers himself. As he says, “If you’re happy with our service tell your friends. If you’re not, tell me.”