Bert Pitre, longtime Michigan, Arizona dealer for GM, dies at 79
| Sponsored by |
| » | ||
| » | ||
| » | ||
| » | ||
| » |
Reprints
Print
Respond
PHOENIX — Bert Pitre, founder of Pitre Automotive Group, died July 10 in Scottsdale, Ariz. He was 79.
After graduating from General Motors Institute in Flint, Mich., in the 1950s, Pitre went to work at a Buick-Cadillac dealership in Saginaw, Mich. In the 1960s he bought a Chevrolet-Cadillac dealership in Greenville, Mich. In 1973, he sold it and moved to Scottsdale to open a Buick dealership.
According to a 1996 Automotive News story, Pitre Buick in Scottsdale opened on Dec. 23, 1973, "on a day a person couldn't buy a gallon of gasoline in Phoenix as the oil embargo was in full swing."
"'It was a disaster. Four months later I was losing my shirt,'" Pitre later recalled. "'I tried to sell the dealership, but I couldn't give it away.'"
Eventually, business improved. Then the Phoenix economy took off. By the late 1990s Pitre had opened several dealerships in the area selling many brands, including Buick, Pontiac, GMC, Chrysler, Plymouth, Jeep, Eagle, Subaru, Isuzu and Hyundai.
In 1998 he sold Pitre Automotive Group to Republic Industries of Fort Lauderdale, Fla., which became AutoNation Inc. in 1999.
