Dan Murray, right, works with his son Grayson at Murray Chevrolet in Winnipeg. Dan and his three brothers are equal partners in the group of about 33 dealerships, with the expectation that each branch of their families will one day have a seat at the ownership table.David Lipnowski
As kids in the 1970s, Dan Murray and his three brothers spent weekends answering phones, sweeping floors and handling cash at the family’s car dealership in Brandon, Man. It’s a foundation of cooperation and shared ownership that four generations have fostered to grow Murray Auto Group throughout its century in business.
Their grandfather Andrew Alexander (A.A.) Murray first started selling cars in 1926 in Souris, 250 kilometres west of Winnipeg. His sons Clair and Ewart joined the business after returning from the Second World War. Today, Clair’s four sons are equal partners in the parent company, which has grown to approximately 33 car dealerships across Western Canada. The expectation is that each branch of their families will eventually have a seat at the ownership table.
“We certainly don’t always agree on things,” says Dan, one of Clair’s sons and president of Murray Chevrolet in Winnipeg, referring to himself and his brothers Doug, Paul and Chris, who are spread across Manitoba and Alberta. “But when we make a decision, we’re all behind it 100 per cent.”
They’re joined by 28 business partners from outside the family in each of the western provinces; all hold equity in Murray Auto Group’s individual dealerships after working their way up the rungs.
That cooperative model defines the group’s network, which currently holds 3,500 new vehicles and 1,500 used. The company’s decentralized approach gives partners autonomy over their own dealerships – a structure Dan, 66, credits with giving the enterprise its long-term stability. Since the mid-1980s, no partner has left other than for retirement or illness.
Murray Auto Group operates within a sector that plays a major role in Canada’s economy: according to the federal department Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada, the auto industry contributed $16.8-billion to gross domestic product in 2024 and directly employed more than 125,000 people.
Dan describes the industry as “mature,” where growth comes through acquisition and consolidation as opposed to sudden spikes in sales. Murray Auto Group’s recent expansions include the purchase of Shaganappi General Motors in Calgary and the opening of Genesis Winnipeg.
Governance has become more formal as the company grows. The four brothers now meet weekly by Zoom to discuss operations and strategy. The business has hired a chief financial officer, chief operating officer and chief digital officer from outside the family – roles added as the organization expanded from fewer than 20 employees in Clair’s early years to more than 1,000 staff today. Clair remained involved into his early 80s before passing away in 2014.
Balancing tradition with innovation is one of the central challenges family businesses face, says Shauna Feth, president and CEO of the Alberta Chambers of Commerce. “You really want to honour the history, but at the same time, you want to give enough ability for the next generation to look at new approaches,” she says.
Staying current is essential in today’s business landscape, she adds. “If family businesses aren’t looking at innovative approaches … they’re going to get left behind.”
Murray Auto Group’s systems were tested during the pandemic, when supply-chain disruptions and manufacturing shutdowns hit the auto sector. According to a Scotiabank report, four million fewer vehicles were produced in North America in 2020 than forecasted.
Additional challenges include the U.S.-imposed 25-per-cent tariffs on auto parts and vehicles manufactured outside the United States starting last year and Canada’s countermeasures, as well as the global shortage of semiconductor chips that is causing delays in making new vehicles. “We’ve had to be very adaptive,” Dan says. “It just seems like every year there’s a new challenge.” However, he adds, business has been “very strong” since the initial pandemic slowdown.
Overcoming obstacles requires the communication and trust that the brothers built up from childhood working together at the family dealership in Brandon. “We were given jobs that maybe somebody else might have been more qualified for, but we must have been okay,” Dan quips.
In 1986 the family purchased another dealership in Portage la Prairie, then one just outside Winnipeg two years later. Dan, then 28, volunteered to relocate to run it, buying an ownership stake alongside his father and brothers.
Business roles in the family have never been assigned strictly by age, Dan says. When new dealerships were acquired, the brothers talked through who felt ready and had the capacity.
“We’re best friends with one another,” Dan says of his siblings. “We’ve been partners for 40 years.”
None of them are ready to retire, but the partnership model means that new faces are always welcome. “The thought is that we would each have one member of our family take our spot when the appropriate time comes,” Dan says.
Two fourth-generation Murrays are already working as sales managers in the business alongside their fathers – Dan’s son Grayson in Winnipeg, and Chris’s son Liam in Lethbridge.
“It just brings a whole different level when you’ve got your family with you,” Dan says. He remembers being mentored by Clair, who refused to hand him easy answers, insisting Dan think problems through for himself. Dan now feels “a little extra responsibility to help [Grayson] the way that my dad helped me.’”
Grayson, 28, worked at a national bank after graduating from the University of Manitoba with an economics degree. “I always was attracted to the banking world growing up, but honestly, it made me realize how much I wanted to be in the car business,” he says.
Grayson returned full-time to the family business more than a year ago after spending many summers there as a teenager. He aspires to buy into Murray Auto Group one day and to grow it to 50 dealerships.
“There’s no limit on that,” Grayson says. “It’s about continuing the legacy that my great-grandpa created – that’s very important.”
Have a suggestion of a Canadian multigenerational family business for this regular series? E-mail smallbiz@globeandmail.com.