Brandon Honda, Mazda dealer Kent Foreman adds Chrysler store to holdings

By Myron Love

BRANDON, MAN. – Kent Forman is the new dealer principal at Brandon Chrysler.

The president of Forman Honda and Forman Mazda (both in Brandon) acquired the 45-year-old Chrysler store in mid-September from the Larkin family, which had been operating the dealership since 1977.

“It was a good opportunity,” Forman says. “The store became available because the Larkin Family wanted to retire. As a Honda and Mazda dealer, I lacked a full-sized truck option. The truck market is huge in this region. As a Chrysler dealer, I now have the trucks to sell.”

Forman opened his Honda store in 1998 and acquired the Mazda store two years ago. 

He reports that the only major change that he has made to Brandon Chrysler’s staff has been the appointment of Chris Irvine as general manager.

“We have a good team already in place at the store,” he says.

Irvine started working in the auto industry in Saskatchewan 23 years ago. He came to Brandon in June 2005 to work as a sales manager at Murray Chevrolet. He was most recently general manager at Virden Mainline Motor Products in Virden.

Irvine notes that he and Forman have added one sales rep to the Chrysler team and hired an individual to manage the store website, customer retention initiatives and inventory.

The general manager notes the store is now carrying 125 new Chrysler products and 50 used vehicles.

“We strived for a seamless transition and I think we succeeded,” Forman says.  “We will be making some tweaks and hope to increase our market share.”