Overview
Employees
11-50 employees
Headquarters
Vernon, British Columbia
Vernon Motor Products began in 1949 by a gentleman, Murray Gee. In 1965 Mr. Gee passed the dealership down to his sons, Harvey and Doug Gee. With no successors interested in carrying on ownership of Vernon Motor Products, Harvey Gee sold the business to Lyn Bannister in 1990. August 18, 1990 Bannister Chevrolet Oldsmobile was incorporated. Lyn Bannister had owned and operated a Pontiac Buick GMC dealership in a small farming community in Northern Alberta. With children interested in getting involved with the business Lyn and his wife Joanne decided to move to a community they knew their children would want to come back to. In 1996, after a committed 17 years to the automotive industry, Lyn Bannister was honored the McLean's Dealer of Excellence Award in the province of British Columbia, recognizing the best new car dealers across Canada. "Lyn captured the Province of British Columbia Dealer of Excellence Award by outperforming in three important areas: business acumen, association involvement and community contribution." In 1999 Lyn Bannister decided to take a "back seat" to the business and is now leading his children, Mark, Chad and Mary-Jo in running the four auto dealerships the Bannister Automotive Group successfully owns and operates. In 2010 Bannister Chevrolet was awarded the Buick and GMC franchises. The dealership is now the only General Motors dealership in the Vernon/North Okanagan area. The name changed from Bannister Chevrolet to Bannister GM Vernon.
