New Subaru collision centre open for business

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This article was published 21/02/2020 (2370 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Jim Pattison Subaru South’s new collision centre opened for business at the beginning of December.

The 20,000 square foot facility is located on the west side of the brand new Jim Pattison Subaru South, which opened in October. The new store and collision centre is located at 55 Fultz Road, off Scurfield Boulevard and just a short drive from the Waverley Auto Mall.

“We expect to soon be able to offer Manitoba Public Insurance estimates,” says Sue Douglas, the collision centre’s manager. “We are still working through the certification process with MPI.”

The new facility boasts seven service bays, two prep decks and two paint booths. The bulk of the collision centre’s work is repairing Subaru and Toyota models — reflecting the Pattison brands in Winnipeg — but Douglas says the shop can handle all makes and models.

 

Changes at TwinMotors in Dauphin

Twin Motors in Dauphin has a new captain at the helm — local guy and long time industry veteran Cary Fillion.

Fillion bought into Twin Motors-Dauphin after serving for 15 years as general manager for another Dauphin auto dealership.

“I had heard that Murray Haukaas was looking for a local fellow to manage the store,” Fillion says. “I contacted Murray and we reached an agreement on a partnership arrangement.”

Haukaas, himself a second generation car guy, is the president of the H5 Group of Companies that includes Twin Motors Chrysler dealerships in The Pas (the original Haukaas Family operation), Flin Flon, Thompson and the Dauphin location as well as Rock Country GM in Thompson and The Pas Collision and Glass Centre.

Fillion’s family is from Gilbert Plains and Cary Fillion says he still has a lot of relatives in the area. He is also a second generation car guy. His late father, Denis Fillion (who died four years ago) worked at different times in his career for Landau Lincoln Mercury, Mid-Town Ford and Nott Autocorp.

Cary Fillion says he started working in the industry at the age of 17 washing cars at Landau. At 22, after several years playing hockey, Fillion entered into car sales at Landau. In 1997, he moved to the Birchwood Automotive Group where he served at various times as a finance manager and a sales manager.

 

New management team at Eastern Chrysler

There is a new management team at Eastern Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram on Main Street and the excitement is palpable.

“We’ve tweaked the atmosphere here,” says new general manager Chris Nicol. “It’s a lot more upbeat.”

Nicol assumed his new role in mid-January. Sales have already increased substantially as has the service side of the dealership.

Innovations Nicol has introduced include monthly town hall meetings where new hires are introduced and employees are singled out for recognition and birthdays, anniversaries and meritorious workplace performance.

Nicol has also initiated several management changes, including new sales manager Tim Cels, used car manager Jesse Shore and body shop manager Shaun Desmond.

“Our focus is to provide our customers with an exemplary buying experience,” he says.

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