Feels like déjà vu - A Tonkin (this time it's Ed) takes NADA's reins amid upheaval

Mark Rechtin
Automotive News | October 12, 2009 - 12:01 am EST

PORTLAND, Ore. -- Ed Tonkin is well-versed in the legacy that his father, Ron, created as head of the National Automobile Dealers Association 20 years ago.

"My dad was a firebrand," said Tonkin, 54, recalling Ron's battles against manufacturers' fleet subsidies in the late 1980s. "He took a very aggressive stance at a challenging time. I am proud of what he did as president and the mark he made. But I also will do things my way."

The Tonkin scion will take over as NADA chairman in 2010 at a tense time in relations among dealers, manufacturers and government.

"NADA needs to have vigorous representation of its dealers," Ed Tonkin said. "That doesn't mean controversial. That doesn't mean creating bad relations. I'm interested in creating relations with government and manufacturers. They can't function without us, whether or not they choose to admit it."

The culling of General Motors and Chrysler Group dealerships, GM's eBay experiment, changing corporate average fuel economy standards and the phaseout of estate-tax laws are some of the immediate issues NADA will confront in the new Tonkin era.

'Caught in a crossfire'

A lawyer, Ed Tonkin knows that conflicts have divided current NADA members -- especially the question of how the group represents dealers caught in the GM and Chrysler bankruptcies.

"We're caught in a crossfire because we're dealing with a bifurcated dealer network, with those going forward and those terminated," Tonkin said. "We're a subject of criticism for not properly representing the go-forward dealers or for not representing the terminated dealers. We have to do some better outreach."

Tonkin wants more communication between NADA and its members. He said he understands how one policy can affect different regions and wants to hear NADA members sound off.

"NADA has served so many great purposes," Tonkin said, "but I believe we can draw upon the collective minds of our board in a more efficient way. I want to involve everybody more. I want to have more interactive board meetings, fewer informational ones."

The family business

When the younger Tonkin assumes the NADA chairmanship, it will be the second consecutive administration in which a son followed in his father's footsteps. Departing Chairman John McEleney's father, Warren, was president in 1971.

The Ron Tonkin Family of Dealerships covers 14 automotive and three motorcycle brands in the Portland area. As NADA vice chairman this year, Ed Tonkin traveled to Washington twice a month. Now he expects the trips to be almost weekly.

As a result, operating responsibilities for the Tonkin dealerships will fall to Ed's brother, Brad, 50. The brothers have run the franchise since Ron Tonkin stepped back from the business in the late 1990s and have increased the company's revenues to $472 million in 2008.

Sales are off about 30 percent this year, but the Tonkin dealership group has made do without layoffs, and it is still profitable. Head count losses to attrition have not been replaced, and pay cuts have been instituted. But the family remains aggressive, having just signed on with Audi.

Although it has become a giant enterprise, the Tonkin stores still feel like a family operation. Ed Tonkin seems to feel no shame at massacring Rick James' "Super Freak" as he jukes down the hallway, to the rolling eyes of his administrative staff.

Managers josh with mechanics and salespeople. Pictures of the Tonkin family are everywhere in the executive offices, and Ed's two grown children are learning the business as well.

Oregon Business magazine ranked Ron Tonkin Chevrolet Co. the third-best company to work for in Oregon.

"It's real humbling that my peer group would give me the privilege of representing them," Tonkin said of his NADA assignment. "It's a big responsibility that I take very seriously. I feel the weight of it. I've never wanted to do anything halfway. I will give it my all."