There are cars that come onto the lots and into the shops of CRS Automotive’s two Southern Ontario, Canada locations that evoke in co-owner Ahmad Liaqat a near- Pavlovian response. Ferraris. Lamborghinis. A 1967 Mercury Cougar. A 1978 Chevrolet Corvette. A 2015 Jaguar F-Type S Coupe. A 2008 Porsche Boxster S Limited Edition. A 2012 BMW Z4. These are the kinds of Sirens that beckoned to Liaqat from his father’s original shop and moved a newly-graduated software engineering specialist to steer a course for a career as a brick and mortar and e-commerce Automotive Manager. By David MacDonald W hen Mohammed Liaqat opened the first CRS Automotive in Hamilton, Ontario in August 1998, his son, Ahmad, sought to match his father’s ambition. He went to college. He took up a modern trade. He earned his diploma. And while Ahmad was paying his dues as a rookie software engineer, he again looked to his father. “About four years after he opened the business I stopped by one day to ask him for a part-time job to earn a little extra money,” Ahmad explains. “Of course he said “yes” and was excited to bring me on board. I really didn’t have any intention of joining him for long because I was considering upgrading my software training. A few months into the job my father asked me to work with him full-time. I agreed and I took on a new challenge.” Mohammed tailored the transition from computers to cars for his son from the beginning. “During those first months and years,” Ahmad recalls, “my father was constantly training me: in business management, customer service, employee management. My father taught me slowly, giving me more and more responsibility over time, and when I made a mistake he would coach me. I learned a lot from my father but I also have a very ambitious academic side to me. I’ve taken several courses on Automotive Manage- ment, I regularly consult successful business coaches, and I attend regular monthly meetings with other shop owners to analyze business strategies and industry innovations.” “About four years after he opened the business I stopped by one day to ask him for a part-time job to earn a little extra money.”
tinues to change and his business acumen shines through his son’s efforts. The original Hamilton service centre has ballooned to 7,000 square feet and includes 10 bays – not to mention spacious parking. And with the expansion to Oakville in December 2014 came new opportunities. The home and headquarters of companies the likes of Tim Hortons, Siemens, and The Ford Motor Company Canada – not to mention a hoard of high-end automotive dealerships – Oakville was the ideal location for the Liaqats and CRS Automotive to plant a new flag. “Both locations offer the same services when it comes to vehicle repairs,” explains Ahmad, “but we’ve added a lot with our Oakville location, including vehicle sales. The Oakville location is 13,500 square feet, has eight service bays, a vehicle show room that holds up to eight vehicles and a parking lot for about 80 vehicles. Oakville also houses our boardroom and five offices for key staff. The Oakville location also sees a lot of higher end vehicles in for service because of the market that it is located in. In Oakville we are surrounded by new and high-end car dealers and many of them use us on a daily basis for services they don’t do themselves. We take on wheel alignments, service off- brand vehicles, perform emissions testing, you name it. We’re constantly seeing that kind of business our way.” As it is for Ahmad himself, the unofficial mantra at CRS Automotive is “embrace your roots.” While the added sales division in Oakville has helped the company exponential- ly grow quarter after quarter and accounted for 20-25% of CRS Automotive’s 2015 profit, “the mechanical side is our core and is where our concentration is,” Ahmad emphasiz- es. “We’re still growing the sales side of the business and expect it to continue to bring in a larger percentage every year.”
After nearly 18 years in business, Mohammed’s vision con-
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AUGUST 2017 • SPOTLIGHT ON BUSINESS MAGAZINE
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