Murray Auto Group celebrates 85th birthday with national sale
By Myron Love
WINNIPEG, MAN. – In celebration of its 85th anniversary, the Murray Auto Group, Canada’s largest auto group, set a sales target of 1,926 new and used vehicles for the month of October for all 22 dealers. The results are in and, though the final figure of 1,578 sales fell somewhat short of the goal, management is pleased with the campaign.
“We chose 1926 as our target because that was the year that Andy Murray founded our company,” says Amber Waller, who is responsible for ecommerce, advertising and marketing for Murray Chevrolet in Winnipeg. “Our principal goal was to thank our customers for 85 years of patronage and raise awareness of our 85th anniversary, which we did. We are very proud of what we have achieved over the past 85 years.”
To help raise public awareness, Waller notes, the Murray Group launched a “very aggressive” pricing promotion with a healthy marketing campaign across the country using direct mail, email and advertising via the auto group’s newly launched group website.
“We had a great response,” she says.
She notes that several Murray-affiliated dealerships had outstanding or record breaking sales figures for October that they consider big wins. In particular, she notes that the Murray Group’s new Chrysler dealership in Brandon, Chrysler Westman (formerly Radics Chrysler which the Murray Group acquired earlier this year) registered 51 sales in October. Waller says that Chrysler dealership sold 200 models all of last year.
“Our Moose Jaw affiliate sold 156 vehicles, 38 more than forecast,” Waller notes.
In other Murray Auto Group news, the company has become a minority owner in Salmon Arm Honda. For most of its history, the Murray Auto Group had been strictly a General Motors group. The company’s first move into other brands came four years ago when it opened Murray Hyundai in Winnipeg. Earlier this year, the Murray Group added a second Hyundai dealership in White Rock and the Chrysler dealership in Brandon.
Dan Murray, the president of Murray Chev in Winnipeg, notes that with imports now accounting for about half the auto sales in Canada, the Murray Group felt that it needed to diversify its product selection.
