Jay Trivedi arrived in Canada as an international student from India in September 2010 with only 500 Canadian dollars in his pocket. Now, Trivedi is a dealer principal, having just acquired a Chevrolet dealership in Wauseon, Ohio.
“Imagine what I’m feeling right now,” Trivedi said in a Zoom call. “I’m nervous, I’m afraid, but a good nervous, good scared and good afraid to finally be living what you set yourself up for.”
A 15-month transaction that almost collapsed
The entire transaction process was a measure of perseverance. It also proved the importance of finding a buyer who matches a longtime owner’s idea of whom he or she wants to take over a lifetime endeavor.
“The deal fell apart probably six or seven times, and we put it back together, you know, over the course of 15 months,” said Mike Funk, regional director for the Midwest USA for DSMA, an international advisory firm based in Canada.
The transaction closed on May 28, Funk confirmed.
Trivedi found out the Ohio Chevrolet store was for sale after spotting a listing on the DSMA website last April. The firm represented Don and Cathy Hayati, the sellers. They had owned the former Don’s Chevrolet GMC in Wauseon for 30 years and were very selective about whom they would sell to. Wauseon is a town of less than 8,000 in Northwest Ohio.
Related: California offers rebate for new EV buyers
Though Funk described Trivedi and the Hayatis as “the perfect match,” the buyer said the most difficult part of the deal was handling an extremely demanding seller and his expectations.
Funk listed dealing with immigration issues — a Canadian buying a dealership in the United States — as a top hurdle. Trivedi said it was “not even in the top five or ten or even top 20.”
His path from a student with $500 to a dealership owner is unusual, but it echoes a broader story of immigrant entrepreneurs in the auto industry who often start at the bottom and work their way up. The Hayatis’ caution about manufacturer control over inventory is a familiar refrain among longtime dealers who prefer the independence of used-car sales.
From Canadian general manager to Ohio dealer principal
Getting General Motors to approve the sale was helped by Trivedi’s reputation in Canada, he said. The 38-year-old worked for the Dilawri Group of Companies, Canada’s largest auto dealership group, for more than seven years. He left a job as general manager of a Dilawri Toyota store in Bolton, Ontario, to buy what is now Jay’s Chevrolet GMC. The dealership also sells the Hummer brand.
Getting the manufacturer’s approval was helped by the fact that he made commercials educating Canadian consumers about the value of buying American brands including Ford, Chrysler and General Motors brands, of which Dilawri owns franchises, Trivedi said.
Canadian consumers were knowledgeable about Japanese brands such as Toyota and Honda, but not so much the North American products, he said.
Related: Mitsubishi expands US car shipments via Texas port
“I started educating them that if it is built here in North America, you will save on insurance,” he said. Also, that the build quality for North American brands was very good. His efforts helped boost Cadillac and Chevrolet sales in Canada, which endeared him to General Motors Canada, Trivedi said.
When General Motors “did my background check in the U.S., they connected with their Canadian counterparts and they said, just grab this guy!” he said.
Trivedi is putting those marketing skills to work at his Ohio Chevrolet store. He sees the most opportunity in new-car sales, which weren’t a big focus for the previous owners.
Don Hayati leaned more into used sales, Funk said, and was reluctant to rely on new-car volume due to manufacturer control over inventory. “He said, ‘Never again am I going to have the manufacturer dictate my business,'” Funk said.
Trivedi, on the other hand, said that with new cars, “If you do it the right way, you can have unlimited potential.” Already, in his first official month on the books, he surpassed Chevrolet’s new-car sales target by 400% of the objective, Trivedi said.
The store sold around 750 new and used vehicles last year.
