First woman general sales manager gets behind the wheel at Motion Mazda
Pride. That is the word Sonia Arora uses to describe how she feels about her new position as general manager at Motion Mazda in Orangeville. She is the first woman general sales manager in the Performance Automotive Group.
Her first official day on the job was Jan. 4, but she’s been with the company since 2010.
“I started as a sales person selling cars on the floor,” said Arora. “I’m very proud of where I am. Honesty and hard work is always the key to success.”
Arora attended university in India, majoring in psychology. She immigrated to the United States in 1996 and moved to Canada in 2003. Arora worked at the airport until her husband decided to open his own business. She worked for him for a while and when the business began to struggle, she decided to get another job. She saw an ad for automotive sales college in the newspaper and decided to give it a try. Once completing the course, the college applied to dealerships for her and she received a number of offers. She signed on with Mazda and Brampton and became the number one sales person in her first month of employment. She was promoted to business manager in 2012 and transferred to Motion Mazda in 2013.
“I really loved the community and the people here,” she noted. “Everyone is so nice. It’s very different from the big city dealerships.”
She was promoted from business manager to general sales manager at the beginning of this year.
“There are a lot of responsibilities that come along with the title,” said Arora, adding her son and daughter are especially proud of her achievement. “I have to take care of the dealership, the sales people and the most important thing is to increase sales and provide good customer service.”
One of her first orders of business is to implement a customer service car clinic at the dealership for people who have recently purchased Mazda vehicles.
“The new cars have so many bells and whistles,” explained Arora. “Some people don’t get a chance to ask questions when they buy the car. The service team, the sales person and myself will be on-hand to answer any questions they might have. If they have any issues, they can take it up with us right away and they get to know the team. This is a free service we are providing.”
Motion Mazda serves Orangeville and the Greater Headwaters area, and is a premier retailer of new and used Mazda vehicles. Dedicated sales staff and expertly trained technicians make your car buying experience rewarding.
Motion Mazda is part of the Performance Automotive Group, which consists of 22 Automotive brands throughout 29 different locations, one large PowerSports business and collision centers all within the Golden Horseshoe.
“We have been serving the community for six year now,” Arora said. “It took a long time to build up that trust. We want people to know that we are part of a big group and we are not going anywhere.”
Arora enjoys working for Performance Automotive Group.
“If you work hard and show results, they will recognize you and give you the opportunity to grow,” she said. “They’re very nice people and they’re always there to help you out. I’m so proud to work for this group. Now that they have given me this big responsibility, I want to prove myself and take the dealership to the next level. Getting the chair is not the hard part, keeping it and maintaining it is difficult. I’m still in the learning process, it’s going to take some time.”
There are more women in the automotive industry than ever before.
“It’s not a male-dominated field anymore,” Arora said. “There are opportunities for females in every sector – sales, service and shop.”
Arora also believes in the product she sells.
“I don’t have to sell Mazda, Mazda sells itself,” said Arora. “I love the product – it’s so stylish, fun to drive and the quality of the cars is great.”
Written by Angela Gismondi
