Jeff Little (left) and Jason Ellis, with drawings of the new Murray Dodge Chrysler Jeep Ram dealership
In Atlantic Canada, the Murray Auto Group recently announced that a new dealership, Murray Dodge Chrysler Jeep Ram, will be opening in Yarmouth, N.S. The new dealership, scheduled to be fully operational during 2015, will mark the return of Chrysler and its affiliated brands to the Yarmouth area, after an absence of almost a decade.
Speaking with Canadian auto dealer, Jeff Little, President of Murray Dodge and partner with the Murray Auto Group for the new facility, says that so far, reception towards opening an additional dealership has been tremendous with a huge amount of community support from the town, including Mayor Pam Mood.
“We’re really excited about this,” says Little. “We already have 55 employees in the community and with the new Chrysler dealership we will increase this to approximately 75 people.”
A renovation, not a new build, Murray Dodge will be located at 113 Starrs Road, operating out of a facility that once served as home to the town’s previous Chrysler dealership. “Even though the location had been used by a non automotive business when we acquired it, the building still had some attributes of a dealership,” says Little.
As a result, he says the process of converting it back into an auto retail facility was more straightforward than starting from scratch or using a building that hadn’t been designed to handle vehicle sales and service needs.
The Murray Auto Group, which has 30 locations across Canada, first established a presence in Yarmouth back in 2008, when Little opened Murray GM, following the acquisition of a business known as MotorMart. With a satellite GM store in Barrington, N.S. as well as a collision centre business, Little says the opening of Murray Dodge was the next logical step for expanding the group’s footprint in the Yarmouth area.
Once operational, the new dealership will encompass approximately 10,500 square feet and six service bays, with the goal of selling 250 new and 200 used vehicles annually.
Jason Ellis, who has been with the Murray Auto Group since 2008, will assume the role as General Manager at Murray Dodge.
“A key part of our growth strategy is having the right people in place before moving forward,” says Little and “we’re very happy for Jason to be taking on the role of General Manager at our newest dealership.”
