Twin Motors purchases Thompson dealership

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This article was published 12/05/2017 (3430 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

McKay Chevrolet Buick GMC in Thompson is under new management. The McKay family, which had been operating Manitoba’s northernmost GM store since its founding in 1986, has sold the dealership to the Haukaas family.

The deal became official April 1.

The Thompson store, which has been renamed Twin Motors, is the Haukaas family’s fourth store in northern Manitoba. The other Twin Motors locations are the family’s original Chrysler dealership in The Pas and dealerships in Flin Flon and Dauphin.

According to Twin Motors’ website, “Thompson has a rich history and we at Twin Motors could not be more proud to now have another new and used car dealership in Manitoba to meet any vehicle needs in Thompson and the surrounding area.”

The new general manager at Twin Motors in Thompson is Derrick Leadbeater, who previously was involved in training and marketing. “I came to know Murray Haukaas and his family through my work with them in marketing and training,” Leadbeater says.

“The new Twin Motors location is about 15,000 square feet. The building was last upgraded to new GM standards in 2014. The dealership was selling about 350 new and used vehicles – mainly trucks and SUVs — annually.

“We are going to be bringing in a lot more trucks,” he adds. “We have another 120 trucks currently on order.”

Top Manitoba Ford sales rep

 

Mid-Town Ford’s Scott Pollett once again finds himself among the elite. The perennial sales star was Manitoba’s only Ford of Canada Peak Performer in 2016. He finished in second place in sales among Ford sales reps in Western Canada.

“I usually sell around 275 new and used vehicles a year,” says the 37-year industry veteran, who joined the Mid-Town team in 2008. “A couple of times, I topped 300.”

Although Pollett was the only Peak Performer in Manitoba, a number of other Ford sales reps earned a ranking in the second level as Ford Summit Award winners. Among them were Pollett’s fellow Mid-Town Ford sales rep Reed Boyer, Shawn Henke from Vickar Ford and Birchwood Ford’s Malik Ahmed, Devin Walker and fleet manager Brian Penner.

Birchwood Ford’s Amanda Hildebrand also earned a Summit Award on the service side. On the service side, Hildebrand notes, customer satisfaction levels and keeping up with training are the major factors in earning a Summit ranking.

Richard Doerksen, a service advisor at Rhineland Car Company in Altona, also achieved Summit ranking for 2016.

New GSM at Birchwood Infiniti

 

John Michaud is the new general sales manager at Birchwood Infiniti. A five-year industry veteran, Michaud joined the Birchwood Infiniti team a couple of weeks ago. He says he welcomes the opportunity to work for Manitoba’s largest auto group because it offers good opportunity for advancement.

 

Women of Distinction

 

MaryAnn Kempe, Birchwood Auto Group’s chief human resources officer, was a nominee for one of this year’s YMCA-YWCA Women of Distinction Awards. She was nominated in the Business, Professions & Trades category.

The YMCA-YWCA Women of Distinction Awards Gala took place last week.

It’s a celebration of the talent, achievement, imagination and innovation of Manitoban women who have made a unique and exemplary contribution to the development of others and to their community.

“This is the first time that I had been nominated,” says Kempe, who spent many years in senior management at MPI before joining the Birchwood Group in 2015.

“I didn’t win, but it was an honour to be nominated and humbling to be included among so many women who have been changing lives in science, technology, business and social action.”

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