F&I Management and Technology Magazine's second annual F&I Dealer of the Year award was presented to the winning dealership group, Ron Tonkin Chevrolet of Portland, Ore., at the National Automobile Dealers Association’s annual convention in New Orleans on Jan. 28.

Ron, Ed and Brad Tonkin accepted the award on behalf of the organization.

According to Brad Tonkin, the secret of their success is simple: "We focus on the positive," he said. "We focus on the F&I management at our dealerships. It's all about continually training our people."

Doing a good job at the Tonkin Family of Dealerships means making the customer happy, according to Ed Tonkin. "Our F&I managers demonstrate the benefits of the products they sell and our customers enjoy their continual value," he said.

Ron Tonkin Chevrolet was founded in 1960. Ron Tonkin was the youngest Chevrolet dealer ever awarded a franchise by Chevrolet at that time.

The dealership sells and leases about 2,500 new and used vehicles per year, with an average F&I income of $1,278 per car.

In addition to Ron Tonkin Chevrolet, the Tonkin family owns and operates 10 other new-car dealerships, all located in the greater Portland, Ore., metropolitan area.

F&I operations at all Tonkin dealerships are of major importance, according to Brad Tonkin. The company employs Enterprise Financial Group (EFG) as its vendor for F&I products and training. In 2001, EFG was instrumental in improving the combined dealerships’ F&I performance by more than $225 per car delivered, according to Brad Tonkin.

In March of 2001, the Tonkin Family of Dealerships was named to the prestigious list of "2001’s 100 Best Companies to Work For" by Oregon Business Magazine. The award marked the first time that any automobile dealership had been included in the list. Not only did the Tonkin Dealerships break into the "100 Best," but the company finished third overall and took first place in Performance Management, Attraction and Retention of Employees, Organizational Communication, and Decision Making and Supervision.

The Tonkin family has a history of participating in NADA, as Ron Tonkin is a former NADA president, having served in 1989, and son Ed has just been installed as the NADA director for the State of Oregon at NADA’s 2002 convention.

Both Ron and Ed Tonkin are recipients of the esteemed Time Magazine Quality Dealer Award for the State of Oregon.

The F&I Dealer of the Year presentation was made at a press conference at the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center, which is hosting the NADA Convention.

According to Bobit Publishing CEO Edward J. Bobit, the purpose of the F&I Dealer of the Year Award is to recognize dealer principals who practice professionalism in the development of an extraordinary F&I department.

Last year’s award went to David Conant, dealer principal of Norm Reeves Honda in Cerritos, Calif.

"Winning dealerships demonstrate broad success in all phases of F&I, including successful training programs; by-the-book identification and selling techniques; respect for customers' legal and ethical rights; and supporting a profitable F&I department which maintains a high CSI level," said Publisher David Gesualdo of F&I Management and Technology Magazine.

"Ron, Ed and Brad Tonkin of Tonkin Family of Dealerships have shown the kind of commitment and dedication to excellence that we look for each year in awarding F&I Dealer of the Year," Steve Elliott, executive editor of F&I Management and Technology.