It's been five years since Yorkton Toyota began, and in that time much has changed throughout the area, with new brands being introduced and plenty of growth being seen in Yorkton overall.
For dealer principal Evan Ortynsky, the highlights of the first five years have been the reasons most people visit a dealer, the products and the people behind it.
"It's just the exciting product that has been a highlight, and working with the staff, we really have a dedicated staff and it's nice to see," Ortynsky says.
Adrian Rock, product advisor since the beginning, says that the experience has been a new one for him, but he has enjoyed learning the different aspects of the car industry and working to be part of a dealership which he describes as less intimidating and more helpful than what some people expect.
"We've sure grown a lot, from the first day to today, it's been a lifetime of experiences in five years," Rock says.
He also says that one of the reasons he's stayed since the beginning is Ortynsky himself, saying he's a great judge of character and a great person to work with every day.
"I haven't had too many bosses in my life, but there's nobody like him."
While he garners praise from his employees, Ortynsky is reluctant to take too much credit for the success of the business, saying it's the entire team that makes the dealership work.
"The whole idea in a business is to get a good solid team... I think we all have a clear picture of where we want to go. We want to promote the dealership, sell the product, and have fun doing it," he explains.
It's not just a big year for the dealer, but also one for Toyota itself, which is celebrating 30 years of one of its highest volume products, the Camry, with a major redesign. Ortynsky and Rock both say that the quality of that car, and the rest of the Toyota range, is why people like their product.
"A lot of manufacturers say that they have quality, but until you drive a Toyota you don't understand that," Ortynsky notes.
Rock is also proud of the amount of North American production the company does, pointing out that Corolla, Matrix and Rav4 are all manufactured in Canada, for example.
The future is hard to predict, but Ortynsky says that he sees the local market doing well into the future. He says that you never know what's going to happen, and there could be lots of external factors that affect what's sold and what people are looking for. As an example, he says truck sales are strong, but if gas prices change, the demand for trucks might get lower.
Rock says that the way technology changes, it's impossible to predict what the product will be like in the next five, but he believes that gas-electric hybrids are going to remain a centerpiece of the Toyota brand. He points out that the Prius line is expanding in all directions, and says people will continue to embrace cars that allow them to spend less on gas.
