Top 100 CEO Interviews
Issue No. 52 - April/May 2010
Peter Kittle recruits clients for life
‘Car buying made easy’ has been the Kittle family mantra since entering the automotive industry at Tennant Creek in 1946.
The emphasis on customer service is typical of successful businesses developed in rural and remote Australia, where reputation and goodwill count for so much.
“When you live in small communities in remote regions of Australia, you socialise with your customers who in turn become ‘ambassadors’ for the Peter Kittle Motor Company,” says Peter Kittle Motor Company CEO, Tom Kelly.
“We create a growing number of ‘customers for life’ which drives the growth of our company.”
Growth through referral and repeat business remains the core strategy for the Peter Kittle group, which has grown dramatically since its early days in the Northern Territory.
In 1988, Peter Kittle owned his first Toyota Dealership in Alice Springs. The dealership employed 24 people and sold 20 new vehicles per month.
Other sites soon followed: Tennant Creek in the 1990s, Adelaide, Port Lincoln and Whyalla in 2006.
In 2010, the Peter Kittle Motor Company employs 218 people across Toyota, Holden, Hyundai, Mitsubishi, Honda and Hino Trucks franchises. The group sells more than 250 new vehicles per month for a turnover of about $205 million p.a.
Major customers include rental and mining companies and national fleet buyers. Also, local councils and government departments throughout SA and NT take advantage of Peter Kittle’s exper...
