Elhart Nissan
870 Chicago Drive Holland, MI 49423Sales: 888-213-3313
- Service: 888-213-3313
- Parts: 888-213-3313
Print
About Our Dealership
Thank you West Michigan for voting Elhart #1!
*Voted #1 Best of West Michigan Used Car Dealer and Repair Facility for 2010 by Readers of the Holland Sentinel. Based on annual yearly readers survey!
Ken Elhart's eyes still light up when he recalls the first new car he sold. Back then some models sold for around $1,000 new and it was no curiosity for a Holland area automobile buyer to count out carefully hoarded green backs and drive off the lot in a fully paid-for new vehicle. Now nearly a half century later technological change has wrought an entirely new automobile market and the dealership Elhart founded sells an amazing 3,000 new and used cars annually.
Born in Holland, Elhart had moved at the age of three with his
family back to his mother's homestead north of Lowell when his father lost his
job as a traveling salesman to the effects of the Depression. He grew up amid
the hard lonely work on the farm and graduated from Lowell High School.
Following the war his father, Ted Elhart, decided the family would return to
Holland.
By 1965 the time had come to strike out and establish his own dealership. There were some other franchise dealerships available but none in the Holland area and that is where he wanted to stay and raise his family. Then in March of that year when a dealership became available Elhart opted to make a "big emotional jump" from. The Elharts sold their home to use the equity to finance the purchase of the dealership and he, wife Barbara and sons Wayne and Jeff moved to a rental unit.
That risk paid off thanks in part to community support and the backing of local businessmen who wanted to see Elhart succeed. Elhart and his eight employees were soon selling scores of trucks and the popular high performance wide track. Four years later Elhart added another franchise to his dealerships and transport trucks began unloading at the 8th Street sales lot.
On January 1, 1970, Elhart moved to a new facility, formerly a crop field on Chicago Drive. Their firm's 20 employees began showing customers shiny new vehicles. That fall Elhart hired a used car manager and began concentrating on the sale of used cars of all makes and that evolved into a major aspect of the business.
In 1971 Elhart became one of the first in the area to sell van conversion models with customer interiors. But 1971 also brought a long manufacturer strike that crippled production and left Elhart facing the huge debt load of his new building with cars unavailable. The dealership survived but that experience convinced Elhart of the need to diversify further. In 1975 he added yet another franchise to his business.
Three years later came a 7,000 square foot expansion to the body shop and service department, which then numbered 21 service stalls and 11 body shop stalls. The Elhart work force had climbed to 35 employees.
The decade of the 1980s saw the second generation of Elharts enter the business full time. As teenagers Wayne and Jeff had worked for their father, mowing the lawn and washing cars. Following their graduation from Holland High School in 1972 and 1976 respectively, college degrees and the experience of working elsewhere, they returned to Holland. In 1985, Jeff became manager of a franchise and Wayne the manager of the other franchises.
In the spring of 1987 Elhart moved into another new facility adjacent the lot Chicago Drive. Two years later a 10 year campaign to secure the Nissan franchise finally paid off and with the completion of a $350,000 expansion scores of Maximas and Sentras found eager buyers.
In 1990 Jeff and Wayne took over as presidents and general managers of Elhart Nissan and Elhart's other franchises. By 1996 total employment numbered 124. Ken Elhart continues to serve the firm he started in a consulting capacity, especially in long range planning. Proud of the employees, past and present, and the family's many accomplishments, he is fortunate enough to be able to say that "if he had his life to live over he would do the same thing."
Thank you West Michigan for voting Elhart #1!
*Voted #1 Best of West Michigan Used Car Dealer and Repair Facility for 2010 by Readers of the Holland Sentinel.
*Voted #1 Best of West Michigan New Car Dealer for 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2008
Based on annual yearly readers survey!