Steve Germain leads a Columbus, OH-based family dealership group with deep roots and ambitious plans.
Germain Motor began in 1947 when his grandfather, Warren F. Germain, an accountant for Henry Ford, was dispatched to Ohio to open a Mercury dealership. He also less successfully sold Edsels in the 1950s.
Steve’s father, Bob Germain, took over the business in the 1970s and added a Toyota franchise in Columbus, followed in the 1980s by three stores in Florida: BMW of Naples, Honda of Naples and Toyota of Sarasota.
The group broadened its Columbus footprint with Mercedes-Benz of Easton and Cadillac of Easton in 2002 and Honda of Dublin in 2010.
“Our growth has been consistent over the last 30 to 40 years. After the recession, it took us a couple of years to regroup and understand what needed to happen,” says Steve Germain, president and CEO since 1995. “We finally felt we were in a position to move forward with some expansion.”
That happened in 2012 with the acquisition of Howard Cooper’s Honda, Volkswagen, Audi and Porsche franchises in Ann Arbor, MI. While terms of the deal weren’t disclosed, published city records indicate a purchase price of $12.1 million.
“Mr. Cooper had owned the stores for 45 years and it was a great opportunity for us to grow the family business in a market that we felt had a lot of potential and with some brands that we had not represented,” Steve Germain says.
When Cooper opened his first store in 1965, the South State Street property was farmland. “People thought I was crazy building so far out from downtown Ann Arbor,” Cooper told the Detroit Free Press in 2012. But he knew plans were in the works for the nearby Briarwood Mall, a major shopping complex.
Germain plans to invest $5 million to $6 million in the Ann Arbor properties to improve the customer experience.
The group opened Germain Infiniti of Easton in 2013 to expand its footprint in the affluent suburbs of northeast Columbus.
Germain is No.77 on the 2014 WardsAuto Megadealer 100. Five Germain stores are on the 2014 WardsAuto Dealer 500.
Germain’s new and used unit sales rose 21%, to 19,676, in 2013 with the addition of the Ann Arbor locations. Total revenue topped $615 million, a 20% increase.
Steve Germain describes his 714 employees as his greatest assets. But he also relies on outside help for inventory management, training and performance metric measurements.
“You can’t do it without our people and our manufacturers, and you can’t do it without our strategic partners,” he says. “They’ve been part of our success in the past and they’ll be part of our success in the future.”
Boatload of Vendors
In 2012, he set sail with a team of key vendors for a 2-month brainstorming trip to the Florida Keys and Bahamas in his boat called The Corporate Office. “We used the trip to take our relationship with our vendors to the next level,” he says.
“That was one of the most brilliant moves I’ve ever seen a dealer do,” says Chip King, owner and managing partner at work-performance evaluator CallRevu. “We ended up with seven vendors on the boat all working together.”
The dealership group CEO attributes the team spirit among his strategic partners for helping his company achieve, among other things, a 30-day used car turn rate.
He’s confident the company will grow and prosper with his three children in leadership roles.
Jessica, 32, an attorney, is general manager of Germain Honda of Dublin. Zach, 29, runs Germain Infiniti of Easton. Youngest son Austin, 24, works in brand management and website development.
“Everything we do is with the next generation in mind,” says their father. “What really excites me is the ability to work with my three children, their knowledge of the industry and their sincere interest in growing the business.”
When Zach Germain graduated from Miami University of Ohio in 2007 with a degree in political science, the last thing he wanted to do was sell cars. Instead, he wanted to drive them…fast.
He moved to NASCAR mecca Mooresville, NC, and raced for two years with Germain Racing in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East, competing against the likes of Danica Patrick and Travis Pastrana. It was a short-lived career.
“I enjoyed my dream for a little bit, but I had to grow up at some point in time and start contributing to the family business versus spending all their money,” Zach says.
Son Makes Some Unusual Moves
After Zach was named general manager of the Infiniti store, he took some steps his father admits some older dealers might have been afraid to do, such as hiring a Starbucks employee and an English teacher as salespeople.
“I purposely did not hire anyone who had been in the car business or had ever been in a true sales position,” Zach says. “I was looking for the customer experience: well-educated, well-spoken individuals who had the ability to learn the product and help our clients make an educated decision.”
He says the job of the “product prodigies,” as sales associates are called, is to offer product knowledge and help guests find a vehicle that fits their needs.
“When the guest feels that they’re ready to buy, a manager comes in and explains the purchase options,” Zach says. “We come out with a fair, discounted price and after limited negotiations, the guest is on their way in a new car.”
Jessica Germain has appeared in commercials with her dad since she was three and today runs the flagship Honda dealership with 2013 revenue of $134.4 million, the highest of the group. The store sold 2,961 new and 2,162 pre-owned vehicles in 2013.
Jessica appears regularly with her father and other automotive experts on Auto Smarts Radio, an automotive call-in show that airs weekly on 21 stations in Ohio, West Virginia and Kentucky.
To stay close to the action, Jessica broadcasts from a studio in her dealership, which is the show’s primary sponsor.
“My father and I really enjoy it, because it gives us the opportunity to talk about the industry,” she says. “I try to do segments that educate consumers on what sort of research they should do as they prepare to enter the car-buying process.”
She also uses the show as a platform to educate women about opportunities in the dealership business. “Women bring a lot to the industry with their compassion, warm personalities and their love of working with people.”
Since becoming general manager in 2010, she has increased the number of female employees at her dealership from 11 to 29 in 2014.
Jessica has been mentioned as the dealership group’s next CEO, but she plays down the speculation.
“It’ll be up to my father as to who his successor will be,” she says. “My plan is to continue to develop as a car dealer and assume greater responsibility in the future.”
Company Profile
Name: Germain Motor Co.
Founder: Warren F. Germain
CEO: Steve Germain, Warren’s grandson
Fourth-gen dealers: Jessica, Zach and Austin Germain
Base: Columbus, OH
Store locations: Ohio, Michigan and Florida
2014 WardsAuto Mega Dealer 100 ranking: No.77 with total revenues of $638,733,558.
2014 WardsAuto Dealer 500 stores: Germain Honda of Dublin (No.109), Germain Toyota of Columbus (No.276), Germain BMW of Naples (No.281), Germain Toyota of Sarasota (No.437) and Germain Mercedes-Benz of Easton (No.533).
