Auto Haus honoured as Premier dealership

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This article was published 07/05/2004 (8022 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

AUTO Haus Porsche has just celebrated the receipt of the dealership’s first Premier Dealer Award. The award was presented at the dealership on Wednesday.

“We have worked very diligently for this award,” says Auto Haus president Ron Cancilla who notes that there were only 40 Premier Dealer Award winners in all of North America (and just three in Canada). “This award puts a lot of emphasis on customer satisfaction, market share and percentage of sales against sales objectives.”

Cancilla reports that Auto Haus sold close to 40 Porsches last year, 90 per cent of them within Manitoba.

Auto Haus Volkswagen has also added two new sales stars to its staff. Todd Payette just started working at the dealership in February and has already been salesman of the month. A former Honda salesman, he moved to Auto Haus, he says, because he wanted to be selling a slightly higher class of vehicle.

“This dealership has a lot going for it,” Payette says of Auto Haus. “I like the fact that it is a family-owned business. I also like the relaxed yet professional atmosphere here. I have recently become Porsche certified which opens up a whole new area for me.”

Payette was originally a welder by training but had to give up the work because he developed asthma. He says that his decision to go into auto sales was the best decision he ever made. “It has been most enjoyable,” he says. “I have never looked back.”

Joe Scott had been working Auto Haus’ detail and lot manager. In mid-December he was asked to fill in on the sales floor one Saturday. He sold two cars that day and a salesman was born.

“I always wanted to be on the sales floor,” he says. “I like dealing with people. Before, I was dealing with people after they paid for their cars.”

While he says that sales is a challenge, he reports that his sales figures have been good and that he is happy with the way things are going.

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Landau Ford Lincoln also has some new faces on the sales floor to go along with the Polo Park area dealership’s new look. Brendan Ives joined Landau in November after working for another Ford dealer for a short period. The B.Comm grad (May 2002) has always been a Ford fan.

“Landau is a good fit for me,” he says. “I like the relaxed atmosphere. My sales are gradually picking up.”

Marc Lussier and Jeff Hampshire joined the Landau staff in February. Hampshire had been the manager of an electronics store. “I had friends in the auto industry,” he says. “It’s great working here.”

Lussier is originally from Somerset, Man., where his father has a small garage and used to sell used cars for Delaquis Motors (now part of the Cam Clark Group) in Carman. The 22-year-old business administration grad recalls, “Dad had been selling Fords ever since I can remember.”

After two years of doing snow removal, he wanted a “suit and tie” job. “I am doing pretty well here,” he says. “I have no complaints.”