The Koch Story

In 1965, Les Koch had the idea to open a new Ford dealership in Edmonton. Les, along with his brothers Murray and Loris and their uncle Frank Paege opened up Les Koch Mercury.  The original dealership was located on 104 Street in what is now the Greyhound South depot. By 1968, business warranted a move to our present location on Gateway Blvd and 51 Ave.

Unfortunately, less than a year after the move, Les Koch passed away. In 1969, with the help of Ford and IAC, Les’s brothers Murray and Loris Koch were able to acquire the store.  At the time, Les’s sons Duane, Dave, Dwight and Rick were aged 17, 16, 12 and 6 respectively.

All of Les’s boys started in the automotive industry at Les Koch Mercury. They began pumping gas, washing vehicles and working as lot attendants. In 1975, Dave and Duane entered new vehicle sales, and by 1979 they had become managers.

In 1992, a new Ford franchise in Leduc became available, and Dave suggested that he and his brothers pursue the opportunity. Dave, Duane, Dwight and Rick mortgaged their homes along with their mother’s home, and with the help of their uncle Murray, convinced Ford that they had the necessary skills and potential to make this dealership great. On January 1, 1993, DK Ford opened its doors and thus started the “Koch Automotive Group”. Interestingly, of the 12 employees who started in Leduc, 5 were from the Koch family, and many of the founding employees still work there today! The primary focus of the “Koch Automotive Group” was and continues to be Customer and Employee Satisfaction.

In 2001, Murray and his business partner Wayne Chesney wanted to divest themselves of Koch Ford Lincoln. When the “boys” learned of Murray’s desire to retire, they went to work and put together a deal to purchase the dealership at current market value. In order to facilitate the sale, they mortgaged their homes once again (this time without their mother’s help!). Ford agreed to the ownership change, but only if several conditions were met including one that specified that DK Ford had to be the winner of the prestigious President’s Award from Ford of Canada for two out of three years. DK Ford won the President’s Award for two years in a row, enabling the brothers to buy Koch Ford Lincoln in 2003.

In 2006, Landing Ford in Athabasca was acquired by the “Koch Automotive Group” and was renamed Koch Ford Sales (Athabasca) Ltd.  In 2008, Dwight Koch retired from the group, and Greg Kociuba (one of the initial 12 DK Ford employees) was made the managing partner at Koch Athabasca.

Today, Dave, Duane and Rick are fully involved in the dealerships, and Murray still comes to his office several times a week. As well, there is now a third generation of Koch’s working at the dealerships! Dave’s son Jeremy is a new vehicle sales manager in Edmonton and Duane’s son Les is a sales manager in Leduc. Rick’s son Jordan is a finance specialist and his other son Jason is an apprentice mechanic, both at DK Ford in Leduc.

The Koch brothers are truly dedicated to Customer and Employee Satisfaction. They appreciate all that their employees have contributed to this vision, and appreciate the pride, dedication and effort within the “Koch Automotive Group”.