MANITOU MAINLINE CHRYSLER ROLLS INTO WATROUS
At 9 Campbell Road in Watrous, a state-of-the-art facility is currently under construction. When it’s complete and open to the public in August, it will serve as the home of Manitou Mainline Chrysler and attract automobile buyers from all over the province.
Due to Watrous’ location between Saskatoon, Moose Jaw, and Regina, it may seem like an obvious location for a dealership
We realize that it’s hard to earn people’s business, and, like any Mainline store, we’re very aggressive with our pricing and realize that we have to make it worth the drive.
that service those populations, but it was the sale of a Chrysler dealership in nearby Nokomis that spurred the idea into action.
“Instead of seeing the franchise potentially disappear, we decided to essentially locate it in Watrous,” says Ryan Hunt, the dealership’s general manager. “That’s the great part about Watrous: in Manitou, everybody knows the salt water lake, and it’s a pooling lake. Everything stays in that lake, and Watrous has got a great pooling effect for the province.”
When complete, Western Canada’s newest Dodge dealership will be an impressive structure. At roughly 25,000 square feet, the facility will house a quick lube service centre.
“We’re going to have Watrous’ first, immediate quick-lube service centre, so it’s exciting for the surrounding area, because there’s nothing like that currently on the market. We’re going to obviously not only be serving our Chrysler products but Ford and GM as well, and our anticipation is to get people in and out within an hour,” says Hunt.
Appropriately, the merchandise will also be new. “Our allocation from Chrysler is amazing: we’ve ordered 300 brand new Dodge Chrysler Jeep products, and, of that, half of them are going to be the brand new, 2019 pickup truck,” says Hunt. “So, we will probably have one of the largest selections of the brand new 2019 half-ton from Dodge.”
One element that will not be new is the service staff. “In our service centre, our team right now already boasts well over 100 years of experience, and well over 35 years of Chrysler experience with a lot of Master-trained technicians for our service department,” Hunt said.
Indeed, Hunt considers a high level of service to be a strong reason for buyers to choose to do business with Manitou Mainline Chrysler. “We’re known as the ‘deal-makers’: people come around, and there isn’t a whole bunch of rigmarole, it’s just straight, honest dealing that we have with people,” says Hunt.
The layout of the building is even designed to enhance customer service and comfort. On the left-hand side of the building, there will be two delivery bays for sales. In the showroom, salespeople can go through and explain the features of the vehicle, in warmth and comfort and not freezing at -40 outside.
“This facility is as modern and state-of-the-art as anything that you’d find in any major centre in Canada, so to find that with the honest dealings that you’d find in a local, small town is the perfect marriage,” says Hunt. “We realize that it’s hard to earn people’s business, and, like any Mainline store, we’re very aggressive with our pricing and realize that we have to make it worth the drive.”