WHITBY FREE PRESS, WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 29,1976, PAGE 15 tb Business What's new at Whitby's small car dealerships? Ron Rancie r is a proud Toyota dealer By BLAKE PURDY Staff Writer Ron Rancier is proud to be a.Toyota dealer. Mr. Rancier established Whitby Toyota in June after taking over rpanagement of Bestway Motors at 1025 Dundas Street West. Mr. Rancier is no new- corner to the car selling business. He lias been involved since graduating from Ryerson Polytechnical Institute in 1967 and, before moving to Whitby, lie helped to establish one Toyota dealership which, in five years, became the most successful in Canada. During his involvement with Toyota dealerships, lie lias corne to the realization that "It is liard to beat By BLAKE PURDY Staff Writer Grant Menzies, owner and president of GrantaMenzies Motors Limnited at 1250 Dundas Street East, believes his already-flourishingbusiness will pick up in the near future. Mr.eMenzies, who has done business out of that location for more than five years, has a number of reasons for being optimistic. First and foremost is his. acquisition ofAmerican Motors Corporation and Jeep dealer- ships in mid June. (Prior to that, Menzies Motors was selling Volvo and British Leyland Products. Mr. Menzies dropped the Volvo franchise when he was nego- tiating for and "pretty sure" ofgettingthe AMC dea!ership). "We feel the small car market is here to stay because people are looking for econ- omy", says Mr. Menzies in explaining why lie thinks the AMC fran -se will help his business .k up. "They are an old company which, in the last few years, has become very aware that our society wants other than the big cars". "AMC is very versatile as far as the selection of auto- mobiles they have",he says. But, the biggest selling point that AMC has is its Buyer Protection Plan, a one- year, or 12,000 mile guarantee on everything and a similar second-year guarantee on the complete power train. "It is the single biggest thing that the companly is advertising because, when you see AMC, you know you are going to get service", says Mm. Mentczhes y "When' they corne in to buy a product, they know they are going to be satisfied and happy", he says. "AMC want their owners to be happy"',. Another reason for Mr. Menzies' optimism is that the 1977 models are coming in the very near future. "October and November are two big selling months because the new vehicles are out", lie says. Mr. Menzies feels that, when people see AMC's 1977 models, they will be "very impressed". Another factor contributing to Mr. Menzies' optimism is his belief that the economy will pick up in the near future. "We are looking at the States and they have a re- covery going", he says. "They have come over their recession but we are still in the midst of ours. Hopefully, the government will solve t". "The car businessslasedefi- nitely been dormant the last few months", says Mr. Menzies. "Once the market does open up again, we are going to sell a good number of cars". "I'm sure hopeful and 'm anticipating a good fall market", he says. "I think that come spring ail hell is going to break loose". Dogs Differ Ail hot dogs are not alike. Most are a mixture of beef and pork: others are ail beef. They're slender or ciunky or in-between. but ail are ready to eat night from the package. Most people though. preferbtheir hot dogs hot-and an a bun. - Toyota quality". "The way the cars are actually assembled is just plienomenal", says Mr. Rancier. "The . car is engineered so much better". Why? Mr. Rancier sites several reasons. All of Toyota's plants are in one town in Japan, aptly named Toyotatown, which he has visited in the past. "Because all the plants are in one city, everything goes to- gether smoothly", says Mr. Rancier. Toyota lias been building srnall cars since 1936, inter- rupted only by the Second World War. "Tliey iave quite a bit of expertise in building small cars", he says. Modern equipment helps too. "Tliey have a superior PUBLIC FORUM ON FARM INCOME STABILIZATION MON., OCT. 4, at 8:30 pm The Ontario Ministry of Agriculture and Food will hold meetings across the province on Monday, October 4, to receive views on farm incore stabilization. Interested individuals are invited to participate in any one of the following meetings: RIDGETOWN Ridgetown College of Agricultural Technology, Livestock Pavilion STRATFORD. Market Annex Fairgrounds ANCASTER Marritt Hall Fairgrounds FLESHERTON Grey Highlands Secondary School, Auditorium MARKHAM Markham Arena Hall Highways 48 and 7 Ministry o Agricultut and Food CAMPBELLFORD District High School Ranney Street CARLETON PLACE Zion Memorial United Church Hall, 37 Franklin Street KEMPTVILLE Kemptville College of Agricultural Technology, Engineering Building NEW LISKEARD New Liskeard College of Agricultural Technology, Auditorium THUNDER BAY Airlane Motor Hotel f Hon. William G. Newman Minister re R G. Bennett Deputy Minister Ontario type of equipment for type of equipment for assembly because it is relatively new", says Mr. Rancier. Dedicated woikers, em- ployed by the company for life, play a big part. "There is a much closer relationship between management and union", lie says. The sane type of dedica- tion which goes into manu- facturing Toyotas goes into selling and maintaining them, says Mr. Rancier. "To run a dealership, you have to put 100 per cent into it to make it worthwhile", he says. Since he assumed manage- ment of the local Toyota dealership, Mr. Rancier has added a sales representative wlo acts as assistant to hi- self, a roadie wvho picks up and delivers parts and finds a mnarket for used cars, and one nenc 'anic. New Zealander Barry Camni, "a top notch sales rep", has been with Mr. Rancier at different dealer- slips for more tlian a year and nowacts as assistant. The roadie is his father Alfred who Mr. Rancier thinks a lot of. "The heart of the car business is being able to find a proper market for used cars", lie says. With the addition of one mechanic, lie now has three fully licensed mechanics who have been with Toyota for at least five years. "They are all very know- ledgeable with Toyota pro- ducts", says Mr. Rancier. "They are probably the best mechanics I have ever dealt with" The mechanics' jobs are made somewhat easier by the accessibility of parts. Parts supplies are one of the big problems for most dealerships but not Toyota, he says. "Because of the ware- housing system, five across Canada, and because they are completely computerized, 97 per cent of the parts can be ordered at 10 in the morning and received at 3 in the afternoon", says Mr. Rancier. ý In three months, only three of approximately 400 customers at Whitby Toyota have had to wait for parts. "Toyota has one of the lowest rates ofeback order", he says. "There is more chance of having a domestic part back ordered than a Toyota part". Tlie quality assembly and quick servicing could be big factors in making Toyota the number one import in North America and its Corolla the fastestsellingcar inthe world. But, more important is the fact that Toyota is now the third largest car manufacturer in the world. "I'm pretty proud of the cars or I would not be selling thiem", he says. Op ening new doors toIsmafl L]usiness Financial assistance . .gg e Managffementcounselfln manae ettrainhng InoMIon onm government po 1s fo bu ness one of our representatives J.W. GRAY will bS at The Lucien Motel, 134 Byron Str., North, Whitby on Thurs. Oct. lth, 1976 at 9:30 arn I *l y euireb: cing to start r o rnize or obtain it elsewhere on reasonable terms and conditions or if you are interested in the FBDB managemen t service s of counselling and training or wish information on government programs available for your business, talk to our representative. FEDERAL BUS/NESS DE VELOPMENT BANK 57-0- Teoe Numbe AMC dealer Grant Menzies is anti*cpete greater sales ffl