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Article: Dealer's new challenge: Used cars; Retailer will compete with manufacturers' certified programs.(Used Cars)(Dave Thomas and Ken Elias contract with Thrifty Car Sales to open used car dealerships)
- Article from:
- Automotive News
- Article date:
- March 17, 2003
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2003 Crain Communications, Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Byline: Arlena Sawyers
When it comes to the new-car business, Dave Thomas has been there, done that.
He became a franchised dealer in 1977 and over the next two decades with his family acquired five dealerships with 15 franchises, employed 350 people and eventually sold 350 new- and used-vehicles a month.
Thomas was one of the first franchised dealers to make serious inroads into online sales in the 1990s, attributing about 50 to 60 units a month to his Internet operations.
But something was missing.
He was spending way too much time worrying about fixed operations and appeasing one manufacturer or another and not enough time ...