Dave Smith leads world in Dodge, Chrysler, Jeep sales

KELLOGG – Dave Smith Motors sold more vehicles than any other Dodge-Chrysler-Jeep dealer in the world last year, according to company officials.

The firm sold 899 Dodge-Chrysler-Jeep vehicles in December alone and 7,024 during 2006, setting a new world record, officials said.

For 10 years, Dave Smith Motors also has been the Northwest’s top seller of Chevrolet-GMC-Cadillac-Pontiac-Buick vehicles, according to the firm.

Dave Smith Motors began evolving into the firm it is today in the 1980s, when the late Dave Smith – the owner of a Chevrolet dealership – bought up nine other new-car dealerships in the Silver Valley in the midst of a mining recession. Smith sold all the brands under one roof. He also cut prices, hoping to make up in volume what he lost in mark-ups.

The strategy paid off for Smith and the community. Dave Smith Motors, run by Smith’s son, Ken, attracts buyers from all over the West. It is also one of the Silver Valley’s largest employers, with 373 workers in Kellogg.

At any given time, Dave Smith Motors has 2,500 to 2,700 new vehicles on lots in town, plus 250 to 400 used vehicles. Company officials like to note that their vehicle inventory tops Kellogg’s population of 2,300.

The company also operates a used car lot in Coeur d’Alene.