Nimnicht’s commitment to excellence still going strong at 80

Automotive sales and service excellence coupled with a longstanding commitment to customers, employees and community are synonymous with the Nimnicht family in Jacksonville.

Four generations — when you include Bill Nimnicht Sr.’s father, Ed Nimnicht, an assistant general sales manager for the Chevrolet Motor Division of General Motors until his retirement in 1945 — have established and enhanced those values for 80 years.

Billie Nimnicht III, president of the Nimnicht Family of Dealerships — Nimnicht Chevrolet and Nimnicht Buick GMC, is quite proud of where the company is positioned today, especially with the unprecedented pandemic getting smaller in the rearview mirror.

Former Managing Editor of Specialty Audience and Drive editor Joe DeSalvo recently visited with the 55-year-old Nimnicht to talk about the company’s thriving business — highlighted by his Chevy store recently becoming the new-car sales leader in Jacksonville; its expanding business portfolio; the car-buying experience; and the future of electric vehicles.

What has made Nimnicht successful for 80 years? 

It’s people and the desire to do the right thing. Our belief is you can’t have happy customers without happy employees, so we say that employees come first. Everybody loves working there; we get positive feedback all the time. In a word: We care — we care about doing the right thing; we care about our customers; we care about when we mess up. We’re living and breathing it every day.