Investing into Saint John, New Brunswick, has been an intelligent business move for Century Auto Group, a Nova Scotia-based family-owned dealership group. Century Auto has been in operation for over 46 years, and has just acquired a second store in the capital city of N.B. The first was a Subaru store purchased in 2021, and now it has bought a Hyundai dealership, which is the company’s second Hyundai rooftop. Both stores have been rebranded as Century stores, and the CEO of the company, which now has 200 employees, says they are still in expansion mode.
Century Auto CEO Michael MacGillivray loves the Saint John market, and not just because the small city is friendly and picturesque. The two new stores there have effectively doubled the company’s revenues in the last two years.
“In August 2021 we purchased the Subaru store, and renamed it Century Subaru Saint John,” said MacGillivray in an interview with Canadian auto dealer. “And once we rebranded that dealership, we felt like we were back to the drawing board, and wanted to see if we couldn’t take another opportunity to grow. I started shaking the bushes a little again and I got a hold of Jerry Delaney, a fellow Hyundai dealer, like ourselves. The long and short was, he was willing to sell and we were willing to buy. So we made a deal.”
The Century Auto executive team thinks that having at least two stores in the Saint John market benefits the company, as well as the employees of the dealerships. “We think that Saint John is a great market to work in,” said MacGillivray. “We really enjoy it, and we also like having at least a couple stores in a town. I mean, we go higher if we can, but having two allows for a little more depth in HR and more opportunities for the team as well, for advancement.”
The Century Auto team is also really excited about the direction Hyundai is going right now, which is why they added another Hyundai store to their portfolio. “We really feel that the wind is at our backs at Hyundai, in a good way,” said MacGillivray. “The product demand is high. I’ve been with Hyundai now since 2014, and it was good when we joined, but it’s a stronger brand now. I’m really impressed with the products that they build, and Hyundai styling second to none. The future’s extremely bright for Hyundai and that’s why we’re happy to hitch our wagon to them again.”
So far the new Hyundai store’s transition has been going well, thanks to a strong team that was already in place from the previous ownership. “There’s a great team in place, and they’re all still with us,” said MacGillivray. “The team has been led by an individual named Alex Halassy and he’s going to continue to lead it for us. When you bring a new dealership team into the fold and the whole team’s great, it’s a pretty cool feeling.”
