DePratu has new owner

DePratu Ford Volkswagen in Whitefish has a new owner and a new name.

Gerrid Gandrud, owner of Kalispell Toyota, recently purchased the DePratu dealership and has renamed it Whitefish Ford VW.

It’s the second time Gandrud has conducted a major business transaction involving the DePratu family. He bought the Toyota dealership from DePratu Ford Volkswagen in 2007.

The Ford dealership has a long history in Whitefish. Bob DePratu, who died last year, bought the franchise from Sterling Rygg in 1964 when he was just 23, making him the youngest Ford franchise dealer in America at the time. DePratu’s son, Bart, and Jeff Brown bought into the business in the mid-1980s and were the primary owners, though Bob continued to have an ownership interest in the business.

“It’s an honor to have the opportunity to purchase this business,” Gandrud said, noting the longevity of the Ford dealership in Whitefish.

Gandrud, 38, also has a long history in the car business. He started as a “lot boy” in high school, washing cars and helping out at his father’s dealership in Green Bay, Wisconsin. He started selling cars when he was 18.

Gandrud spent 3 1/2 years at a Bozeman dealership before heading back to Wisconsin, where he was the general manager for a five-line dealership in Rhinelander for four years.

The chance to buy the Toyota dealership brought him back to Montana.

Both Whitefish Ford VW and Kalispell Toyota Scion are part of the Rydell Group, a dealer group based in Grand Forks, North Dakota, that has more than 100 franchises in 65 locations.

Rydell Group members, which deal in all makes of vehicles, support each other in building their businesses. When Gandrud invested in Kalispell Toyota, the Rydell Group helped finance the purchase and Gandrud paid off Rydell 18 months ago to give him full ownership of the Toyota dealership.

Gandrud’s arrangement with the Rydell Group in purchasing the Ford Volkswagen dealership is the same; he’ll pay off the dealer group in three to four years to become the full owner. It’s a unique way of doing business in the auto industry, he said, because most larger dealer groups don’t offer an opportunity for full ownership.

Gandrud kept the existing staff from the DePratu dealership, many of them longtime employees, and now employs 40 people at Whitefish Ford VW. Three Kalispell Toyota staffers were transferred to the Whitefish dealership, including sales managers Justin Rody and Travis Warner, along with sales consultant Jerry Ingraham, who previously worked for DePratu.

The Whitefish dealership will follow the Rydell Group philosophy of employee enthusiasm and customer satisfaction, Gandrud said. It also practices “best pricing,” a system of paying sales people on a per-car ratio instead of commission.

“Our goal is to provide a relaxed environment for the customer,” Gandrud said. “We started doing business like this 20 years ago with Rydell.”

Best pricing is driven by dealers wanting to provide more transparency for their customers and building long-term relationships rather than a one-time sale, he said.

“We’re seeing very good results,” Gandrud added.

Of the roughly 1,260 Toyota dealers in the United States, Kalispell Toyota is ranked among the top 20 for customer satisfaction and has one of the highest customer retention rates in the country, he said. He plans to develop that kind of loyalty at Whitefish Ford Volkswagen, too.

The vehicle market in the Flathead Valley is very strong, Gandrud said, even though the winter months are a bit slower.

“March 1 is when spring hits for us,” he said.

Kalispell Toyota sells an average of 190 units a month. The business plan for Whitefish Ford Volkswagen calls for selling 100 to 130 units monthly.

Gandrud said Ford “has a lot of really good products,” including the F series of pickup trucks, the company’s “bread and butter.”

“Volkswagen has gone through a transition as a company and in the next two years we’ll see a lot of changes,” Gandrud said. “Their diesel technology is absolutely amazing.”

Volkswagen’s transition will focus, among other things, on giving more attention to designing and building vehicles based on what the U.S. consumer wants, he added.

Features editor Lynnette Hintze may be reached at 758-4421 or by email at lhintze@dailyinterlake.com.