Dave Smith Motors

Dave Smith Motors started in October 1965 in Wallace, Idaho. He purchased the small Chevrolet dealership from Mort Keane. At that time, the Chevrolets were sold mainly to miners, loggers, smelter workers and local businessmen in northern Idaho's Silver Valley. Five years later, he moved the dealership to Kellogg, Idaho. Today Dave Smith Motors carries Chrysler, General Motors, and Nissan products, according to the Dave Smith website,{{Citation needed|date=July 2015}}(daveSmith.com).

Idaho's Silver Valley was founded in the 1800s silver boom and is one of the richest silver mining regions in the world. The community is located along Interstate 90 in northern Idaho's Shoshone County. The valley thrived for decades as one of the nation's greatest mining regions. Then, in 1981, the Bunker Hill mine in Kellogg closed.{{cite web|last=Preusch|first=Matthew|title=A Mining Town With a Bleak Past Starts to Blossom|url=http://travel.nytimes.com/2008/01/18/travel/escapes/18havens.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0|work=The New York Times|accessdate=19 June 2013|date=January 2008}} Over 2,000 jobs left with the mine sending the area into an economic downturn.{{cite web|title=Bunker Hill Mining Company Records, 1887-1984|url=http://www.lib.uidaho.edu/special-collections/Manuscripts/mg367.htm|work=The records of the Bunker Hill Mining Company were donated to the University of Idaho Library by the company in June 1991. They were processed by Judith Nielsen between October 1993 and October 1994.|publisher=University of Idaho|accessdate=19 June 2013}} The region also lost a lot of jobs in the timber industry.{{cite news|last=Ritter Saunders|first=Emilie|title=Car Sales Are Big Business in One Rural Idaho County|url=http://stateimpact.npr.org/idaho/2012/02/15/car-sales-are-big-business-in-one-rural-idaho-county/|accessdate=19 June 2013|newspaper=StateImpact|date=February 12, 2012}} The population of the valley plummeted and car dealerships were losing the battle to stay in business. Dave Smith nearly lost the dealership.

As other dealerships were going out of business in the valley Dave Smith bought up nine other new car dealerships and sold all the brands under one roof.{{cite news|title=Dave Smith leads world in Dodge, Chrysler, Jeep sales|url=http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2007/jan/06/dave-smith-leads-world-in-dodge-chrysler-jeep/|accessdate=19 June 2013|newspaper=The Spokesman Review|date=January 6, 2007}} He also cut prices in an attempt to make up in volume what was lost in mark-ups. At any given time the dealership has more new vehicles on lots in town than the population of Kellogg.{{cite news|title=www.spokesman.com/stories/2007/jan/06/dave-smith-leads-world-in-dodge-chrysler-jeep/|url=http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2007/jan/06/dave-smith-leads-world-in-dodge-chrysler-jeep/|accessdate=19 June 2013|newspaper=The Spokesman Review|date=6 January 2007}}

Dave Smith Motors was one of the first car dealerships to take advantage of the Internet.

In the late 1990s when many dealerships saw the Internet as a threat,{{cite news |last= Bradsher |first=Keith |title=A New Era Of Wheeling And Dealing; Rising Competition Squeezes Car Sellers |url= https://www.nytimes.com/1998/01/30/business/a-new-era-of-wheeling-and-dealing-rising-competition-squeezes-car-sellers.html?pagewanted=all&src=pm |accessdate= 19 June 2013 |newspaper= The New York Times |date=30 January 1998}} Dave Smith embraced the Internet and used it as a tool to increase sales. Since the beginning of the list, Dave Smith Motors has ranked high on Ward's Auto e-Dealer 100 list.{{cite web |last=Gordon |first=Mac |title=E-Dealer Pros Sharpen Their Game |url=http://wardsauto.com/2012-edealer/e-dealer-pros-sharpen-their-game |publisher=WardsAuto |accessdate=19 June 2013 |archive-date=25 July 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130725045742/http://wardsauto.com/2012-edealer/e-dealer-pros-sharpen-their-game |url-status=dead }} Dave Smith Motors uses the Internet to reach beyond the geographic confines of their remote location in Kellogg, Idaho.

The Internet changed the playing field for dealerships because Chrysler Corporation (now Fiat Chrysler Automobiles) allocates more cars to dealerships that sell more, a policy that rewards dealers who are able to boost their sales.{{cite news |last=Wallace |first=Bob |title=Car dealers yield sales to Internet|url=http://www.cnn.com/TECH/computing/9809/03/cardeal.idg/index.html?iref=allsearch |accessdate= 19 June 2013 |newspaper= CNN |date= 3 September 1998}} Despite the concerns of competing dealerships Chrysler continued to ship even more vehicles to Dave Smith Motors, and assured other dealers that they could increase sales by improved customer service and referrals. The other dealerships were not pleased. In 1998 twenty-five Chrysler dealerships in five states threatened to boycott Chrysler Corporation if they did not reduce the number of cars they allocated to Dave Smith Motors.{{cite journal |last= Garner |first= Rochelle |journal= Sales and Marketing Management |date= June 1999 |pages= 54–61 of 151}} The Federal Trade Commission considered their boycott illegal{{cite news |title= Auto Dealers Settle Charges of Boycott |url= https://www.nytimes.com/1998/08/06/business/auto-dealers-settle-charges-of-boycott.html |accessdate=19 June 2013 |newspaper= The New York Times |date=6 August 1998}} and the group settled the charges before the boycott began.

In 2015, Dave Smith Motors was purchased by RFJ Auto Partners, a national dealership conglomerate. They sell on average 1,000 vehicles a month.{{Cite web|title=Dave Smith Motors {{!}} Better Business Bureau® Profile|url=https://www.bbb.org/|access-date=2021-04-02|website=www.bbb.org}}

Dave Smith Motors is one of the largest employers in Shoshone County,{{cite web |title= Spotlight on the Silver Villey |url= http://commerce.idaho.gov/communities/community-spotlights/spotlight-on-the-silver-valley/ |publisher= State of Idaho Department of Commerce |accessdate= 19 June 2013 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20121120152737/http://commerce.idaho.gov/communities/community-spotlights/spotlight-on-the-silver-valley/ |archive-date= 20 November 2012 |url-status= dead }}{{cite web |last= Pupovac |first= Jessica |title= Private vs. Public: Who Writes More Paychecks in Your County?|url=http://stateimpact.npr.org/idaho/maps/private-vs-public-who-writes-more-paychecks-in-your-county/ |publisher= Boise State Public Radio |accessdate= 19 June 2013}} and the largest private company in Kellogg.{{cite news |title= Dave Smith Motors building large Kellogg lot |url= http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2004/jul/01/business-news/ |accessdate= 19 June 2013 |newspaper= The Spokesman Review |date=1 July 2004}}

In April 2015, Dave Smith Motors was acquired by RFJ Auto Partners Inc. of Plano, Texas.{{cite web |title= RFJ buys Dave Smith Auto

|url= http://www.autonews.com/article/20150425/RETAIL07/304279957/rfj-buys-dave-smith-auto |publisher= Automotive News |accessdate= 5 July 2016}}

While on a family vacation in April 1994, Smith died in a snorkeling accident in the Caribbean Sea near Belize at {{nowrap|age 58.{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=aGJWAAAAIBAJ&sjid=sPEDAAAAIBAJ&pg=6773%2C4133142 |work=Spokesman-Review |location=(Spokane, Washington) |last=Massey |first=Steve |title=Kellogg auto dealer Dave Smith drowns while on vacation |date=April 26, 1994 |page=B4}}}}

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