Posted: Thursday, February 28, 2008 12:00 am
Phillip Doud earns magazine's honor at S.F. convention
Matt neznanski
Gazette-Times Reporter
Phillip Doud, owner of John & Phil's Toyota of Corvallis, earned Time Magazine's Dealer of the Year Award at this year's National Automotive Dealers Association conference in San Francisco.
The award program recognizes new-car dealers who have shown exceptional performance in their dealerships, combined with distinguished community service.
"I was dazed, surprised, shocked; all those things you are when you don't expect something like this to happen," Doud said.
Time magazine, the Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company and NADA sponsor the award, which is given to one auto dealer in each state out of nearly 20,000 nominations.
John & Phil's opened in 1970, a collaboration between Doud and John Nussbaumer, who had worked together at a Corvallis Volkswagen dealership through the 1960s. The business associates operated the dealership together for 15 years, and then Doud took over when Nussbaumer retired. He bought out his partner and remaining investors.
"It was just "Phil & bank" there for a while," Doud said.
John & Phil's has won the Toyota President's Award 15 times, including 13 straight years from 1986 to 1998.
Doud is a member of the Corvallis-Benton Chamber Coalition and served on the board of directors of Wycliffe Bible Translators, International from 1996 to 2005.
Doud admits that making the leap to untested Toyota in the early years could have gone either way. He credits the company's loyalty to customers as a major reason for its success.
"In 1970, some of the cars were selling for less than $1,700," he said. "Back in those days, people didn't know, but Toyota proved themselves, particularly to me as a dealer, that they would take care of customers."
Winners of the Time award are featured in a magazine advertisement placed in copies delivered to winners' home states. The feature appears as space is available in the publication, typically in the summer.