How dealers can keep their business in the family for generations to come

Starting children in junior roles and maintaining transparency about the family business are among the key factors contributing to enduring multigenerational dealerships.

However, effective succession requires offspring who are both willing and fully able to take on the challenge of running dealership groups that need to pivot quickly in the ever-shifting auto retail environment, say dealers and an industry buy-and-sell executive.

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Vaughn Wyant said that if his two sons had not decided to follow in his footsteps, “Perhaps I wouldn’t be in the business today.”

The Wyant Group began in 1983 in Saskatoon, Sask., with the purchase of Jubilee Ford. Today, the group employs about 500 people in 18 stores across western Canada. Wyant, 69, is CEO, but the day-to-day decisions are in the hands of CFO Phillip and COO Michael, he said.

“I have the perfect mix here,” Wyant said of his sons. “They’re best friends; they make the perfect team.”

The Wyant Group has become nimble in a period when direct-sales-to-consumer models are growing and relationships with automakers are evolving, Wyant said. He thinks his sons are highly motivated to navigate turbulent waters while keeping a steady eye on the company’s core values of trust and respect for staff and customers.

“Who do you trust more than your family?” said the Vaughn Wyant, whose partner, Lori Leach, also works for the group as a graphic artist.

​​​​DAUGHTERS PAY THEIR DUES

Those comments are echoed by Laura Zanchin, principal and executive vice-president of the 38-dealership Zanchin Automotive Group in Vaughan, Ont., north of Toronto. Both she and her sister Andria, who is also principal and executive vice president, chose senior roles with the company that their father, Joe Zanchin, founded in 1973 after immigrating from Italy.

The sisters grew up in the business, starting in reception and then taking on increasingly senior roles, Laura Zanchin said. Coming up through the ranks helps them keep in touch with employees.

“We try very hard to be a part of everything that’s going on.”

The family connection gives the group a competitive edge because “we’re invested enough to know that we have to stay with what we do,”Zanchin said.“Andwe’re doing it.” 

The group also treats its employees like family. “We’ve got people who’ve been with us for 30 to 40 years,” she said. “We respect them for their loyalty and integrity.”

If the family business has a downside, she said, it’s at the dinner table. “It’s business 24/7,” she said. “You almost have to turn it off.”

Both dealership groups say succession plans are in place, and shares are secured in a family trust. Laura Zanchin expects to continue in the business.

“We have a good thing going,” she said.

No data exists on how many dealerships are family owned, but about half of Canada’s 3,000-plus franchised stores are single point, said Michael Lewicki of buy-sell company Lewicki Automotive Consulting. Until about 2000, nearly 95 per cent of dealerships were single point, but the consolidation has accelerated in the past 10 years, he said.

Younger clients he works with tend to be aggressive with growth strategies, while older clients are more likely to be considering throwing in the towel, he said.

“If the second generation is not there or is not capable, then that [dealership] is a candidate for sale.”

Laura Zanchin said her father, 81, is actively involved.

“He’s the one cracking the whip. He sets the pace, and everyone else is trying to catch up. He’s going to be doing this for the rest of his life.”

Both dealership groups plan to grow when the right opportunities come along, but Zanchin said she doesn’t believe such growth is essential to survival.

“It doesn’t matter what size we are, in the end, we are a family that’s done a helluva lot.”