Today we’d like to introduce you to Teddy Morse.
Teddy, please share your story with us.
Our family has been in the automotive business since 1946 when my grandfather, Ed Morse, founded Morse Motors. My father, Ted Morse, would later take over the reins from his father and over 70 years later, I continue to build on the legacy and family tradition. Ed Morse Automotive Group continues to be one of the nation’s most respected automotive dealer groups with 13 dealership locations, 16 franchises, and 9 automotive brands.
When your grandfather and father are legends in the automotive industry, you either grow up loving or hating the art of selling cars. I’ve loved it from the start. My grandfather and dad made sure I knew that becoming chairman and CEO wasn’t a birthright and that I would have to earn it.
My dad put me to work early as a teenager and I was porter who made minimum wage handling trash and sweeping duties. Since that high school job, I got the opportunity to work in every department for the company. It shows the genius of my father as he knew one day that every single job that I had in the company would help me relate to every single employee. It undoubtedly made me a stronger CEO and leader, because I know how hard each individual works to make our company better every day. It’s amazing to think that I went from porter to overseeing 13 locations, 17 franchises and nine brands including Cadillac, Toyota, Buick, Honda, GMC, Mazda, Chevrolet, Alfa Romero and Fiat.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
When my father passed away in 2016 and I was named CEO and Chairman, we received so many calls from people offering to purchase our automotive group. In a way, I felt like people were doubting my dedication to run the family business. What happened was that it was tremendous motivation for me to prove myself to our employees that I was fully committed to the company and to them.
The results speak for themselves as for the third year in a row we surpassed $1 billion in sales. In fact, three of our Cadillac dealerships have won the Cadillac Dealer of the Year, which is the most in the nation for dealer groups. We are also starting to embark on an aggressive expansion in which we are now looking to acquire more dealerships in prime markets.
I believe that we’ve been way ahead of the curves that the car industry faces. We embraced the age of mobile technology with killer digital marketing plans and streamlined mobile sites. We also are in love with the new automotive technologies that make driving cleaner and safer.
Please tell us about the Ed Morse Automotive Group. What else should we know?
That’s easy, it’s the success and growth of our employees. Like myself, the people that I started working with are now leaders in their divisions. That makes me proud.
We have over 900 employees and are still growing. I know that if we have happy employees then we will most definitely have happy customers. Longevity at Ed Morse Automotive Group is par for the course. Consider this, if you’ve worked with us for 15 years, you are still a relative newbie. What makes me the proudest is when our employees bring in their family members to work for us… that says a lot about our culture.
Why is Florida such a great place for your dealerships?
I can’t remember the last Nor’easter that hit Florida. There’s a reason that Florida’s population continues to grow. It’s a great place to live, work and play and a true melting pot. We are honored to call Florida home for our many dealerships and we look forward to expanding that. Ed Morse Automotive Group has called Florida home for over 70 years and I believe that we have earned our incredible customer loyalty by dedicating ourselves to excellence, stability and premium customer service.
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