Leader of the pack

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 03/02/2017 (3474 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

For the second year in a row, Winnipeg Honda was Manitoba’s top-selling new car dealer and, for the first time, the Winnipeg store set the pace for Western Canadian Honda dealers.

The secret to Winnipeg Honda success? All-world sales rep Dylan Foui and his support team, which set a new sales record of their own last year.

 

In 2016, Winnipeg Honda recorded 1,369 new car sales. Team Foui (which consists of Foui, team manager Jeremy Sturbey, Dustin Davie, James Le, Lucky Sharma and, the most recent addition, Melissa Foui, who handles the financing) accounted for 950 cars sold by the dealership as well as another 180 other Dilawri Group models — for a grand total of 1,130 new and used models Team Foui sold last year.

“We work with all of the Dilawri brands (Nissan, Mazda, Acura and Toyota),” Foui says.

In 2015, Team Foui, led by the 35-year-old sales star, recorded a little less than 1,000 sales, once again making Foui the top-selling Honda sales associate in Canada by a country mile and, most likely, the top-selling car sales guy in Canada.

At 1,130 sales last year, evenly divided between new and used models, Foui just might be the top-selling sales rep in North America.

(By comparison, the Guiness Book of Records lists American General Motors sales rep Joe Girard as having set the standard for auto sales with 1,425 cars sold in 1973 and a total of 13,001 sales in a career that spanned 15 years.)

“Our focus is always on the customer,” Foui says of his team’s success. “We try to provide the best service that we can and we promise to beat all of our competition on price.

“We are also industry leaders in CSI (customer service index).”

He reports that the team is also focusing more on social media. “We have just created our own webpage,” he says.

“I have reached the point where my team and I do more business in a year than some smaller Honda stores,” Foui says. “We have become, essentially, a dealership within a dealership.”

Team Foui occupies its own wing of the south Winnipeg Honda store, has its own delivery pod and its own dedicated service technician in Graham Loughrin.

“My team members,” Foui says, “do everything from top to finish and are there to keep our team running smoothly.”

Foui has been the leading Honda sales rep for Manitoba almost from the beginning of his career in auto sales in March 2004. He was managing a fitness store when a friend encouraged him to try auto sales. He very quickly shot to the top of the class. He credits Don Saranchuk, Winnipeg Honda’s vice-president and general manager at that time, with giving him the training that built the basis for his success in auto sales.

“Don was a great mentor,” he says.

Foui also praises Ashok Dilawri, the founder of the Dilawri Auto Group for his support.

Foui can be reached online at teamfoui@winnipeghonda.net. Team Foui is also on Facebook (Team Foui Automotive) and on Instagram (Team_Foui_Automotive).

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2017 Honda CR-V impresses

Honda’s 2017 CR-V landed in dealer showrooms in mid-December and, reports Birchwood Honda on Regent sales rep Jay Finck, the new model comes complete with a bunch of new standard features.

Some of the features he mentions are remote starters, front-heated seats and a slew of Honda sensing technologies including back-up camera, adaptive cruise control, lane change alert and collision mitigation.

Among the options are heated rear seats and hands-free power tailgate.

“You also have proximity key entry with push button start,” Finck notes. “You don’t have to take the fob out of your pocket or bag.”

The model, which is available in a choice of five trims, is powered by a 1.5-litre, 16-valve, direct injection DOHC turbocharged four-cylinder engine which produces 190 horsepower and 179 pound-feet of torque.

“The fuel economy is among the best in its class,” Finck says.

“That is important to all of our customers.”

He reports that the model sells for a starting rate of a little less than $30,000 (including freight and pre-delivery inspection).

“Our customers love the new CR-V,” he says.

“Our first two sales were sight unseen. We have a good selection of models and colours.”

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