We had the privilege of talking with Chris Elliott, Dealership Principle of Volvo of Savannah, Volvo Cars Hilton Head (previously Carolina Volvo) and Savannah Mitsubishi. During our interview, Elliott discusses his partnership with Mike Turner and their relocation to the region in 2013. Elliott also provides insights into each of their three dealerships and their unique approach to provide today’s automobile consumers with better experiences in both sales and service.

Chris Elliott and Mike Turner met in Virginia where they helped build a large chain of 14 dealerships for Kia, Subaru, Volkswagen, and Volvo in Winchester and Dulles from 2000 to 2013. After deciding they were ready to get into a business of their own, Elliott and Turner came to the region in 2013. Elliott settled in Savannah and Turner in Bluffton.  

Elliott explained, “We worked for a large group of 14 dealerships and decided we wanted to get into our own business. I had built 4 dealerships from the ground up, and experience in everything from finding the land, getting permits and building the physical business to staffing and managing them. We came down in July 2013 and met with the owners of the Volvo franchise in Savannah. We were awarded the franchise and offered our key employees a great package to come with us. As a result, we were able to assemble a strong staff day one.”   

Elliott continued, “I think for us, the move has really been about the customers and people. This area has a small town feel to it. It’s nice to have that here. We know our customers by name. We love the area, and we love the weather. There is a lot less snow here which is better for the cars. As I like to say, we like to go to the snow instead of having the snow come to us.”   

Elliott added, “We were lucky that 16 seasoned staff members decided to come with us and relocate from Virginia including managers, sales people and technicians. Most of our staff has 10-15 years of experience and service with Volvo. We empower our sales people to work direct with the consumer so there isn’t a lot of the back and forth. We’re priced very competitive so consumers can come here and get a good deal. We have a slogan here, we don’t just shake hands with our customers, we hug them!”

Elliott and Turner are dealership principles for Volvo of Savannah, Volvo Cars Hilton Head (previously known as Carolina Volvo), and Savannah Mitsubishi. Elliott has 20 years of experience in the automotive industry with proven skills in dealership management, sales and marketing as well as new market development. Elliott attributes his success to a deep understanding of critical business drivers that help reduce costs and increase margins to maintain a healthy business model leveraging sales volume and customer satisfaction with profits.  

According to Volvo Car Group Global Newsroom, Volvo Cars sold 503,127 cars in 2015, the first time it has sold more than half a million cars in its 89 year history. Volvo sales in the U.S. accounted for 70,047 of those car sales in 2015 with volumes up by 24.3% from the previous year.  

Elliott explained, “Our Volvo of Savannah dealership suffered some damage from Hurricane Matthew. We are the process of making those repairs and remodeling our sales and service areas. That construction will be complete within the next three weeks.” 

Elliott continued, “Volvo is building a new plant in Charleston to be opened in 2018. That will help a lot with visibility of our brand in the Savannah and Bluffton markets. We offer the Volvo XC90 which is the SUV of the year.  And, we just received the Volvo S90 which will be our flagship vehicle. We are a big events company, and don’t necessary do a lot of advertising in TV or direct mail. We think we’re very likable people and get involved in the community. We just finished a big fund raiser with Ronald McDonald house where we helped raise money for that non-profit organization.”  

Chris Elliott & Mike Turner serve as General Managers for the Volvo of Savannah Dealership located at 8831 White Bluff Road in Savannah, Georgia, since July 2013. Volvo of Savannah serves residents of Savannah, Garden City, Hinesville, Bluffton and Hilton Head. The dealership features new and used cars for sale, lease or loan including the latest Volvo S60, XC60, XC70, XC90 and V60 models. Elliott created a Finance & Insurance department along with a highly motivated management team that has led to 65% increases in sales and service. Volvo of Savannah offers customers a well-stocked inventory, a beautiful showroom, as well as a full-service car maintenance and repair center with Volvo certified parts. For more information on Volvo of Savannah visit: http://www.volvocarssavannah.com/.

Elliott shared, “We just changed our name from Carolina Volvo to Volvo Cars Hilton Head. We also just created an interactive environment with our customers. We took out all of the dry wall and replaced it with glass so everything is transparent to the customer. We take pictures and transmit those to our customers so they are always well informed.”

Elliott continued, “We are the pilot dealership for Volvo to launch a new personal service offering called Volvo Personal Service or VPS. We were excited to be chosen by Volvo to pilot this new program and had our kickoff a month ago with the Vice President of Volvo. With VPS, you deal direct with a Volvo technician for your maintenance and service needs. So when you call in to make a service appointment, you talk direct with the technician that will be working on your car. It eliminates the middle men and the need for loaner cars. You set an appointment and are physically part of that appointment much like a medical visit. From start to finish you deal with your technician. This has really eliminated the back and forth and the number of steps for the customer and the dealership. By 2018, all Volvo dealerships will offer this same program and service.” 

Chris Elliott & Mike Turner serve as General Managers for the Volvo Cars Hilton Head Dealership (previously known as Carolina Volvo) located at 12 Gateway Village Road in Bluffton, South Carolina, since July 2013. Carolina Volvo serves residents of Bluffton, Hilton Head, Beaufort, Charleston and Savannah. The dealership features new and used cars for sale, lease or loan including the latest Volvo XC60, XC90, S60 and XC70 models. Carolina Volvo offers customers a well-stocked inventory, a beautiful showroom, as well as a full-service car maintenance and repair center with Volvo certified parts. For more information on Volvo Cars Hilton Head visit: http://www.volvocarshiltonhead.com/

According to Automotive News, Mitsubishi reported an operating profit of $4.2 million in North America for the fiscal year ending in March 31. This was Mitsubishi’s first profitable year in seven years’ time for the U.S. market. U.S. sales rose 25% to 49,544 vehicles in the first half of 2015. Consumer Reports voted the Mitsubishi Outlander Sport as the best small SUV last year. 

Elliott explained, “When we got here in July 2013, we noticed there was not a Mitsubishi dealership in Savannah. We gutted out a commercial office space and built it up and opened that dealership in January 2014, just six months after we got here. Mitsubishi vehicles are great starter cars, great for young families, and popular with U.S. military. They are very popular overseas. Many servicemen and women come back from tours in Europe familiar with the brand and are our primary customers for our Mitsubishi vehicles.” 

The Savannah Mitsubishi Dealership located at 8203 White Bluff Road in Savannah, Georgia. Savannah Mitsubishi serves residents of Savannah, Garden City, Hinesville, Bluffton and Hilton Head. The dealership features new and used Mitsubishi cars for sale, lease or loan including the latest 2016 and 2017 Lancer, Mirage, Mirage G4, Outlander, Outlander Sport models. Savannah Mitsubishi offers customers a well-stocked inventory, a beautiful showroom, as well as full-service car maintenance and repairs in a Factory Authorized Service Center and state-of-the-art body shop. For more information on Mitsubishi Savannah visit: http://www.savannahmitsubishi.com/. 

Elliott explained the difference in buying a car today versus the past. He said, “I would say 10 years ago the average consumer would visit 7-10 dealerships before purchasing a vehicle. Statistics now show consumers visit only 1.7 dealerships before making their purchase. Customers are a lot more informed today about what’s available to them through the Internet. Today’s consumer typically knows what they want before they visit. The buying process is a lot easier now than 10 years ago.” 

Elliott added his advice to ensure the best deal in today’s market. He said, “If someone is looking to purchase a vehicle, they really should go straight to the dealership and not a third party site. A lot of third party sites are actually managed by dealerships so they pass along additional costs to the consumer. We want there to be a good buying experience for our consumers. We conduct a need analysis before test drives to make sure we understand all of our customer’s needs and their price point. Then we take them onto the lot to show them several cars that meet their specific criteria. We really train our team to go through that process in order to save time and money on both sides.” 

Before moving into the automotive industry, Elliott served as State Director for Lt. Governor of Virginia Donald S. Beyer, Jr. from 1994 to 1997 and as Special Assistant to United States Senator Charles S. Robb from 1993 to1994. Elliott received his Bachelor of Arts degree from University of Richmond and obtained his dealership training in general management from the National Automobile Dealers Academy. He is a member of the National Automobile Dealers Association.