Even though he has a great education in the dealership world and is currently managing a Volkswagen store at age 30, Kyle Nelson felt he still needed an automotive diploma to prove himself to manufacturers in hopes of one day owning his own store.
It’s the reason Nelson enrolled in the Georgian College Automotive Dealership Management Program two years ago and is among the 2022 graduating class, many of whom are younger than him and without nearly the same amount of experience in the industry.
“The program was really a good eye-opener on the future of automotive and really sharpened my skill set even further to hopefully continue to run a successful dealership,” he told Canadian auto dealer.
Nelson comes from a family in which his paternal grandfather and father have experience in the industry. After graduating with an Honours degree in the University of Windsor Business Commerce program in 2014, Nelson entered the dealership world full-time as Business Manager for Volkswagen Audi Chatham. He subsequently moved around the industry in various jobs to put himself in position of one day owning a dealership, but feeling he needed an automotive business diploma to prove himself to manufacturers.
During COVID-19, he enrolled online in the Georgian College program while also working as Sales Manager for Audi Windsor, which his father, Mike, managed. Last February, Plaza Auto Group hired him to become GM of Orillia Volkswagen, which required moving from Windsor while still a couple courses short of graduating.
“If you look at my experience, I’ve always moved the needle for myself from sales to management,” said Nelson. “I’ve heard just being a young kid it would be hard to manage people or I was not ready for that. I’ve been told ‘no’ a lot in my career and I’ve always succeeded and proceeded to push the narrative and progressed to where I am. There were a lot of downs in my career, but also lots of ups to get to where I am.”
