Contact: Dolores (Mohr) Kenyon
E-mail: dolores@wiclarkcountyhistory.org
Surnames: Gross
----Source: Clark County Press (Neillsville, Clark Co., WI) 1/17/2018
Area Dealership Gross Motors (Expanding – 2018)
Area Dealership Expanding
Mike Gross, general manager of Neillsville-based Gross Motors, on Jan. 15 cleaned snow from a truck on the dealership’s Neillsville Chevrolet and Buick lot. Gross Motors is building a new Chrysler-Jeep-Dodge dealership in Black River Falls, and a new Ford dealership in Neillsville. (Scott Schultz/Clark County Press)
By Scott Schultz
The management of Neillsville-based Gross Motors had been considering expanding their automobile-sales opportunities, though not necessarily to the extent that will be happening as the year progresses.
It all turns out to be working just fine though, according to the firm’s general manager.
Construction is under way on a new Chrysler-Jeep-Dodge RAM dealership in Black River Falls, where Gross maintains one of its General Motors Chevrolet, Buick, and GMC lots.
Construction also will get started sometime this spring on a new Gross Ford dealership near the company’s Neillsville Chevrolet-Buick-GMC lot. Gross Motors has purchased that Ford dealership from Jensen Motors in Spencer, where Gross Motors will continue to operate a service shop.
The entire operation falls under the Gross Auto Group.
“It’s more than we first thought we’d be doing, but it’s going to work out,” said Gross Motors General Manager Mike Gross.
Gross said discussions had been going on with Jensen when he was contacted by the Chrysler Corporation to see whether Gross Motors might be interested in opening an area Chrysler-Jeep-Dodge RAM dealership.
“I’d been on the phone, working on the deal with Brenda from Jensen Motors,” Gross said. “I hung up the phone, and Chrysler called to see if we wanted to work with them.”
Gross said the issue about where the new Ford dealership will be built, but that it will be near the Neillsville Chevrolet-Buick-GMC dealership. The company owns the laundromat, and the now-closed Heartland Cooperative convenience store along Highway 10 near the Neillsville dealership; Gross said those properties offer some options.
It’s important to continue running a shop in Spencer so Spencer-area Jensen Motors customers will continue to have a local place to have their vehicles serviced, Gross said. But, he added, centralizing the sales portion of the business into a larger Neillsville facility will create more options for the region’s automotive shoppers.
People might not care to drive more than a couple of miles for vehicle servicing – but they’re willing to drive a little more for greater purchase selections, Gross said.
The expansion should be good for the entire Neillsville community, according to Gross.
“It should add some jobs and add to the tax base,” he said. “It should be good for the city.”
Gross Motors has operated in Neillsville since 1956. The company also operates an automobile sales lot in Marshfield.
