Murray Chevrolet bids farewell to veteran

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This article was published 18/04/2019 (2712 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

On April 11, Murray Chevrolet hosted a retirement party for the dealership’s longest-serving employee. Jim Shozda retired as of March 15 after almost 39 years in the car business. He spent his entire career as a parts guy.

Shozda started his career in October 1980, specializing in outside and wholesale parts sales at Carter Motors on Portage Avenue, which became Dan Murray Chev Olds in 1994.

“Jim played a key role in one of Canada’s top parts departments and GM’s second-largest parts department in Western Canada,” Dan Murray said at the retirement party. “Both staff and customers loved Jim. If someone needed something, all they had to do was ask and Jim would get it done. His motto was, ‘The answer is yes, now what is the question?’”

“I had a great time,” Shozda says of his career. “It was hard to walk away but I have to look after my health.”

Shozda plans to enjoy retirement with his wife, Sandy, at their farm on Garven Road.

vw, Porsche dealers under new ownership

Knight Autohaus Volkswagen and its sister store, Porsche Centre Winnipeg, are under new ownership. As of April 1, the two long-standing Winnipeg stores are part of the Edmonton-based Go Auto Group. For the past six years, the two dealerships were part of the Regina-based Knight Auto Group.

Autohaus Volkswagen was founded in the mid-1960s by Kurt Herzberg and Hans Gust. Ron Cancilla became dealer principal in 1980. Cancilla sold the Volkswagen store and his Porsche store to the Knight Group shortly after the opening of the stand-alone Porsche store alongside the Volkswagen store on Pembina Highway. Previously, the two brands shared the same building.

The Go Auto Group is one of Canada’s largest automotive groups. Go Auto operates more than 40 dealerships — most of them in Alberta and British Columbia, representing 21 new-vehicle brands. The company was formed in 2008 with the merger of the Mike Priestner Auto Group — with its 15 stores — and the Ericksen Auto Group with its five stores.

In 2016, Go Auto added the Jaguar, Land Rover, Volvo store in London, Ont., followed the next year with the acquisition of Go Dodge Mississauga and Whiteoak Ford in the Greater Toronto Area. Autohaus and Porsche Centre are the auto group’s first two stores in Manitoba.

“The new ownership is not planning any changes,” reports new general manager Anderson Le, who was formerly the sales manager at the Porsche store.

Le, who started in auto sales in 2007 when he was 18, replaces Braeden Mueller, who had been GM of both stores under the previous regime.

Last October, Porsche of Winnipeg staff were joined by city dignitaries for the official groundbreaking for the new Porsche Centre Winnipeg to be located next door to Audi Winnipeg off Kenaston. The project had been put on hold pending completion of the change in ownership.

“We are hoping to resume work on our new Porsche store by the summer,” Le says. “The store is scheduled to be open for business sometime next spring.”

The new facility will measure 30,000 square feet on two acres. It will be more than three times larger than the current store and will have a 12-car showroom, 10 service bays, a full-service drive-thru, a car wash bay and a detailing bay.

Remembering Greg Ens

Greg Ens, until recently the president of Southland Honda in Winkler, passed away on March 16 following a lengthy battle with cancer. He was just 48.

Jody Hildebrand remembers his friend and former boss as an easygoing individual, a man who always had a smile on his face and who was always optimistic even during his final days. “Greg never had a bad word to say about anybody,” Hildebrand says. “With him, everything was always OK.”

Hildebrand reports Greg Ens and his father, Al Ens, started Southland Honda in the early 1990s.

“I got to know Greg a few years earlier through sports,” says Hildebrand, who was a sales manager with Ens. “Greg bought the business outright in the mid-1990s and I joined the company in 1997.”

Hildebrand says his late friend was a role model for his employees and a pillar of the community in Winkler (a fast-growing city of over 12,000). He had a strong commitment to his church, where he served in a number of leadership roles and taught Sunday school.

He also had a real passion for sports. He was president of the Winkler Flyers Junior A hockey club and a director of the Pembina Valley Minor Hockey Association, and he coached his own kids’ teams in several sports.

Hildebrand says Ens received his first cancer diagnosis in 2006. While he beat the disease that time, cancer returned several years later and spread to his brain a few months ago.

One of Ens’ last acts prior to his passing was to arrange to sell Southland Honda to the Murray Auto Group — as of the beginning of March to ensure continuity — with Hildebrand promoted to managing partner.

Ens is survived by his wife Kelly; his daughters Maria and Lani; sons Mackenzie and Lucas; as well as his parents, Al and Ruth Ens, and a brother and sister.

New management at Nissan stores

Both Vickar Nissan and McPhillips Nissan have new management personnel in place.

At McPhllips Nissan, Adriano Dibiase and Chad Yuile are the new sales managers. For Yuile, this is his 24th year in auto sales. Originally from Toronto, he came to Winnipeg four years ago in pursuit of new business opportunities. He joined the McPhillips Nissan team about 10 months ago, initially as used car manager.

“I think McPhillips Nissan is one of the best places I have ever worked at,” he says. “We have a veteran group of employees and a great atmosphere.”

Dibiase joined the McPhillips Nissan team about a year ago as finance manager. He has been in auto sales for 15 years, mostly dealing in Asian imports. “I love it here,” he says. “We have great people and great customers.”

Over at Vickar Nissan, Cameron Scammell assumed the role of general manager at the beginning of March. Scammell has 12 years of experience in auto sales, the last six in management. He has dealt mainly with Asian imports as well.

Justin Craine, Vickar Nissan’s newest sales manager (along with Bill Kueneman), joined the team on April 1. He has been in the business for five years, most recently at another Asian import store. “I really like the Nissan brand,” he says, “and this was a great opportunity. They do a lot of the right things here and there is a lot of room for advancement and growth.”

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