Manager's journey began in Ethiopia

Growing up in Ethiopia, Daniel Mekuria always knew he'd end up in America.

Mekuria, a top student who played soccer during his childhood in the capital city of Addis Ababa, believed he could reach his potential in the distant country where some of his relatives had established themselves decades before.

One of his uncles is a U.S. State Department official. Another uncle was sent to the U.S. sometime in the 1950s or 1960s by Ethiopian emperor Haile Selassie for strong academic performance.

"I had a lot to offer to the world," said Mekuria, who's now managing partner of James Collins Ford in Louisville, Ky. "This is the country where I feel like I can come in and live my dreams."

Mekuria, 46, immigrated to the U.S. during college in 1996 with his mother and continued his education as a business student at West Virginia University. In 2004, he opened a cell phone store in Richmond, Va., and ran it for three years before transitioning into automotive, where he found he had a knack for moving metal.

Mekuria began his auto retailing career with stints at two Toyota dealerships in Virginia, then completed his degree from WVU while working for a Ford store in Morgantown, W.Va.

A decade ago, Mekuria had a decision to make. His wife was pregnant, and he didn't want to raise their daughter in West Virginia or Washington, D.C., so he researched the best places for children. That led him to Louisville, where he secured a job at Bill Collins Ford.

Mekuria quickly became one of the leading salesmen and flourished there over the next five years. He was averaging 20 deals a month but eventually realized he didn't want to be a salesman forever, so he moved on to managing the finance and insurance department in 2016.

Two years later, he got a call from the owner's brother, James Collins, who had a Ford dealership of his own and was looking to give it a spark.

James Collins knew of Mekuria's sterling reputation and offered him a general manager position with an agreement that Mekuria would get a 20 percent ownership stake in four years.

He moved over to James Collins Ford in September 2018. Instead of coming in and firing everyone, Mekuria said he brought his energy to the store and worked with the team he had. Business skyrocketed.

His sales philosophy is based on earning the trust of customers.

"From the customer perspective, when you have multiple ways of buying cars and all these choices, and especially with the Internet, you decide who should earn my business and that business should be honest, transparent [and] provide the information for you to make your own decisions," Mekuria told Automotive News. "This whole old-school way of pushing is probably not there anymore."

Like many dealers during the industry's microchip shortage, Mekuria's team has had to shift its focus to collecting more retail orders with little inventory on the lot. Mekuria said his store has drawn buyers from as far away as California. It offers to drop ship vehicles to a dealership in the buyer's market.

James Collins said bringing Mekuria in and making him a partner was the best decision he ever made. "He's essentially running the whole business," Collins said. "He's turned a good, sleepy dealership into a very, very, very good dealership."

Mekuria has been preapproved to own another Ford dealership if the opportunity arises. He's also open to other manufacturers. His goal is to expand.

"If you are looking for a particular car, I'm not the type of guy that's going to tell you I don't have that vehicle," Mekuria said. "I will find it for you. We have all the resources at our disposal; I can buy from auction, I can find it from somewhere. If I don't have it right now, I will find that vehicle for you in the next few weeks to a month. My technique is pretty simple: I'll sell you a vehicle today, or I'll leave you a good impression for when you come back."