Shane & Sarah Drummond with children Nicole & Mitchell seen here in the photo some time around 1998 this photo was taken. Shane tells us a bit about where it all started.
“My first job after leaving school at 16 was at Whitwells in Mot, I did pretty well there so they flicked me across the road to their other store selling whiteware and appliances. I set up a record section and car accessories in that store and did pretty well there too.”
But cars were what a young Shane wanted to sell so he wrote a letter to Henry Houston, then-dealer principal at Houston Motors.
“There wasn’t a job going but I told him I wanted one, he came out to Motueka to see me, without telling me he was coming and asked to speak to me. He offered me a job but I’d already decided to head to Perth with a mate for our OE, I told him he’d have to give me 24 hours to decide. He couldn’t believe it and I came back to him the next day and said ‘yes, lets go’.”
The late Henry remains his most influential mentor. From there Shane quickly made an impression, winning the award for top Sales Manager for Mitsubishi throughout the country.
Promotions to sales manager positions and offers to buy into the company came but Shane wanted to run his own ship.
So, in 1996, on a plot of land he bought in Nile St, a 30-year-old Shane started selling cars for himself.
“They were cheap cars but the two of us there did really well and soon enough I was pretty keen to expand.”
Over the years, the Car Company has had – believe it or not – 25 different sites throughout the region.
We are now into our 27th year in business and still going strong. Shane reckons the secret to the Car Company’s success is the “three Rs” repeat business, referral and recommendation.