Crosby Auto Group is very much a family business historically, but over the years it’s come to represent that in other ways.
What began with Gordon Crosby starting the business in 1966 with Crosby Volkswagen in Kitchener-Waterloo, has continued with his grandson, Michael, who is the Dealer Principal of Crosby Auto Group. Crosby’s younger sister, Kate Martin, who has been with the company for 20 years, is the General Manager at Crosby Volkswagen and worked her way up through the service department. His younger brother, Gary, joined the company five years ago as Marketing Manager for all its stores.
Crosby Auto has four dealerships that also include Volkswagen Waterloo, Audi Kitchener-Waterloo and Listowel Honda, which was purchased in 2018 and is the company’s first acquisition and first non-German brand. The store has undergone a renovation that is expected to be completed by the end of the year.
The foundation store, which totals 18,000 square feet, will be replaced with a new store on nearby property the company purchased and will total 33,000 square feet. Construction begins this month and the project is slated to be completed by December 2023.
Michael became a minority partner in the business in 2000 and the majority owner in 2007 when he purchased the business outright from his grandfather, who passed away in 2019 at age 91.
“I consider him not just my grandfather, but a huge mentor in the business and he was around long enough to see this stuff come together and he was definitely proud of the way things turned out,” said Crosby. “It’s a good feeling.”
He said when you factor in the employees and customers, the company has tried to create a family feeling.
“If you talk to team members they would very much say we have the feeling of it being a family business,” said Crosby. “Some of our clients have dealt with us for a long time, and they feel that way as well. We don’t go out of our way, necessarily, to market or advertise ourselves as such, but I would say it’s part of our culture, for sure.”
