Decision to Rely on Ford and Drop General Motors and Suzuki Came from Maryland Car Dealer's Sons

March 14, 2011 - PRLog -- Dave Wilson spent 26 years building Preston Automotive Group into an 11-brand, 10-store group. But in 2007, his son, then a 20-year-old college sophomore, came to him with an audacious suggestion:
Dump Chevrolet, Buick, Pontiac and GMC. Get rid of Suzuki. Keep Mazda, Nissan and Hyundai. Focus on three stores selling Ford, Lincoln and Mercury.

"David Jr. said sometimes you have to contract to expand. I told him, 'That just dropped right out of your college textbook,'" Wilson Sr. recalls, laughing.

But over the next four years, a series of business decisions -- some voluntary, others involuntary -- made his son's idea a reality. And in hindsight, the elder Wilson, 51, says his son's suggestion turned out to be great advice.

Preston Ford Lincoln, near Preston, Md., sold 1,441 new Fords last year, making it the 93rd-largest U.S. seller of new Ford cars and trucks in 2010 -- not bad for a dealership in a town of about 700 residents. Wilson Sr. says the store, across Chesapeake Bay from Baltimore, draws customers from at least seven states each month.

In 2010, sales of new Ford cars and trucks at Preston Ford Lincoln rose 29 percent, Wilson Sr. says. He attributes half of that increase to his customers who formerly drove General Motors vehicles. That topped a 17 percent rise in Ford Motor Co.'s 2010 U.S. sales.

Wilson Sr. believes that Ford will increase its market share and that he will continue to put more of his GM customers into Fords. He predicts a 30 percent gain in sales of new Fords at his Preston store in 2011.

Preston Automotive's sales of all brands rose 23 percent in 2010, says David Wilson Jr. In 2010, industry wide U.S. sales rose 11 percent.

Wilson Jr., who has worked at his father's dealerships since childhood, says the group's GM and
Suzuki stores were underperformers. The Buick-Pontiac-GMC store averaged about 15 new units a month. The Suzuki store averaged about four.

The group thinned its holdings in four steps:
1.    In March 2009, with the blessing of GM, the Wilsons closed the Buick-Pontiac-GMC store, which Wilson Sr. had owned since 1995.
2.    Two months later, as part of GM's slashing of its dealer body, the automaker revoked the Wilsons' Chevy store, which they had owned with a partner since 1988.
3.    Last year, the Wilsons accepted an offer from American Suzuki Motor Corp. to buy out the Suzuki store.
4.    They stopped selling Mercury vehicles when Ford Motor discontinued the brand on Dec. 31.

At the group's present size, "we can be more available to our customers and more available to our associates," says Wilson Jr., 24. "I want to know every associate by their first name."
Wilson Jr., with a bachelor's degree in automotive marketing and business management from Northwood University, is vice president of Preston Automotive and manages Preston Ford Lincoln and the group's Mazda, Nissan and Hyundai stores, also in Preston.

The group's remaining holdings include a second Ford dealership in Denton, Md., which Wilson Jr. also manages; part ownership in a third Ford store in Pittsville, Md.; and a used-car store in Millsboro, Del.

The Wilsons say they had cultivated a loyal customer base at the stores that were closed and wanted customers to know they weren't being deserted.
Their staff contacted each customer, explained that the Ford stores near Preston and in Pittsville could perform service work on their GM vehicles and offered free oil changes.

The dealerships also picked up customers' vehicles requiring service covered by a GM warranty, took them to a franchised dealership authorized to perform the work and gave customers loaner vehicles to drive while their vehicles were in for service.
"My No. 1 concern was my customers. I didn't want to make anything harder or less convenient for them," Wilson Jr. says.

Father and son say they admire Ford CEO Alan Mulally and liken their growth strategy to that of Ford, which also shed noncore brands.

"I was taking my 12-year-old daughter, Marina, to school one day and as we were riding along I told her that her children will study him in school one day," Wilson Sr. says of Mulally.
"I think he'll go down in history as a true American icon."

Wilson Sr. grew up in Federalsburg, Md. At 16, he began his career detailing vehicles at a local GMC dealership. The summer of 1977, after graduating from high school and before he was supposed to leave for college, he started selling vehicles at the dealership.

He enjoyed selling vehicles so much he skipped college, landed a salesman job at Preston Ford and in 1981, at age 22, became a partner in the store of which he is now the sole owner.

Original Press Releases by Autonews' Arlena Sawyers at asawyers@crain.com.

For more information about Preston Ford please visit http://www.prestonford.com

About Preston Automotive Group

Preston Automotive Group services the Delaware, Maryland, Virginia and Pennsylvania area with Ford, Lincoln, Mazda, Hyundai, and Nissan brands.  The auto group carries the largest selection of new and used cars and trucks.  Additionally, the dealership services all makes and models, both imported and domestic cars with ASE certified and factory trained technicians.

To learn more, visit http://www.prestonmotor.com  

For more information:  
Wendy Melvin
Preston Automotive Group
Executive Assistant
410.673.7171
wmelvin@prestonmotor.com

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New and Used car and truck dealer serving Maryland Delaware and Virginia. We also specialized in service work for all vehicles. We carry Ford Lincoln Hyundai Nissan and Mazda brands. Preston Auto also specializes in low prices and customer satisfaction