1 Company History & Story
What year was Elite Auto Centre founded?
1999
How did Elite get started? What’s the founding story? Who founded it and why?
After our initial five years of doing US sales and dabbling in retail from one lot, we then transitioned from our small lot to a second bigger lot and small shop. After a couple years at that location, we found and purchased our current location in 2004. It was a Chrysler dealership that had closed. We continued to build the used car retail end and developed the service department while still doing US vehicle sales.
What are the key milestones over the past 25+ years?
1999 — Started exporting vehicles to the US
2001 — Purchased a 6-bay shop from local transmission company
2004 — Purchased current location (closed Chrysler dealership); expanded to service, detailing, and retail used car sales
2005 — Named one of the top 3 new businesses in Canada (SSGM Magazine)
2006 — Added 4 more bays to the shop
2010 — Added the sales finance department (F&I)
2018 — Built new showroom with 3 offices
2019+ — Multiple “Best of Kelowna” awards
How has Elite been involved in the Kelowna community?
We have been active for two decades with donations and sponsorships throughout our community. We support little league baseball, hockey teams, equestrian events, MMA, golf tournaments, local football teams and various other charities throughout the Okanagan.
2 Awards & Recognition
List all awards and recognition Elite has received.
2005/2006 — SSGM (Canada-wide industry magazine) listed us as one of the top 3 new businesses in Canada
Best of Kelowna — Multiple years, voted #1 Used Car Dealer by the community
Google Reviews — 1,000+ reviews with strong ratings
Customer testimonials
1,000+ on Google reviews.
3 Facility & Operations
Building square footage
13,000 sq ft
Average vehicle inventory on hand
80 units
Average selling price per vehicle
$38,000
Where do you source your inventory?
Dealer networks around the Okanagan, trades, occasional auctions, wholesalers, buy from public.
4 Team & Organization
Key employees and their roles
Mark McCafferty — GM, overall operations. Focus is Service department and Sales and F&I oversight. 8 years tenure. Former Service Manager at local Chrysler dealership.
Donna Clipperton — Bookkeeper/Office Manager. 2+ years.
Mark Lowey — Sales Manager. 6+ years. Former Sales Manager at large volume dealership — left the high-pressure environment for Elite’s culture.
David Graf — Service Manager/Journeyman Tech. 18+ years. Started as mechanic, promoted to Service Manager.
Team — 32 total employees across sales, service, parts, admin, and detailing.
Org chart structure
Greg & Korey (Owners)
→ Mark McCafferty (GM)
→ Donna Clipperton (Office/Admin)
→ Mark Lowey / David Graf (Sales / Service)
→ Rest of staff
Tell us about the apprentice pipeline in Service
Currently 2 of our apprentices recently finished their 2nd and 3rd year schooling and are now in their final year of studies before becoming certified journeyman mechanics. It takes 4 years to go from apprentice to journeyman. With 3 of our veteran mechanics aging, this pipeline is critical for succession.