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Kristi Hudson, Donnie Hudson and Frank Hudson

TROY AUTO’S

Michigan-based auto repair shop wins three major industry awards in 2022

BY CHRIS JONES PHOTOS BY PAT DURHAM

One of major league baseball’s most challenging and sought-after accolades is the

triple crown. To achieve it, a player must end the season leading their respective leagues in home runs, RBIs, and batting average. In 2022, the auto care industry honored a triple crown winner of its own—Troy Auto Care— fittingly a half-hour away from Detroit, where the last MLB triple crown was won.

“When we won that NAPA AutoCare Center [of the Year] … that was just amazing. We have been celebrating that all year and then Kristi gets the phone call that she won Female Shop owner of the Year through Women in Auto Care and then last week we get the phone call that we’re AAPEX Shop of the Year. I was just like, a triple crown. I mean, that is just incredible, and I’m so passionate, I’m so excited about my team,” says Donnie Hudson, co-owner of Troy Auto Care.

Prioritizing People

To fully appreciate how a family of shops like Troy Auto Care, which has three locations in suburban Detroit, can win three major industry awards in a calendar year, you’ll need to start from its beginning.

Troy Auto Care opened in 1958 as two-bay Shell gas station. Co-owner Frank Hudson, who worked alongside his father for a number of years, says the elder Hudson impressed upon both boys to “always take care of your customers and always do the right thing.” That directive remains a foundational tenant of the shop’s culture, which went from a Shell shop to a NAPA AutoCare Center 40 years later in 1998.

“My dad was in the army during Korea, and when he came out, he always said you treat your fellow person as you would want to be treated and be fair. And we took that all through business our whole lives, and it’s worked very well,” says Frank.

And those aren’t empty words for the Hudsons. Within their three shops, there are 113 employees who aren’t referred to as such. They’re not even called team members. The Hudsons are too salt-of-the-earth for superficiality. In their shop, the people on their payroll are called family members.

“The culture here is family-oriented. Each week, we have team spirit day every Friday. We always have challenges. Our employees are involved with the decision-making. We have daily huddles, weekly meetings,” says Donnie. “I have a thing for my technicians, my managers. They don’t get vacation time. They don’t get sick time. It’s all unlimited. They get what they need. I had a manager have a baby. He needed a few weeks. He’s getting his few weeks off with pay. It’s no problem because I know what they do for us on daily basis, and I’m proud that we can do that.”

Kristi Hudson says it starts from the shop’s hiring process. The Hudsons want every employee to have a stake in the company’s growth and longevity.

“We’re honest with them, we tell them what kind of atmosphere we have, we tell them our expectations. Basically, our goal is to see that every employee that comes in here succeeds,” Kristi says. “Our end goal is to be able to have enough shops where we

Hail to the Chief

Outside of running an award-winning shop, Donnie Hudson is a fire chief.

Full Circle

Told not to pursue automotive, Kristi Hudson found her way back to her first love--vehicle repair. can let our key employees have a stake in that and help us out.”

For Frank Hudson, growth is about relational cohesiveness. Does everyone have the back of another?

“The big thing is teamwork. Can I get everybody to work together as a team?” Frank says.

Part of that investment starts with the management team, who provides ongoing training opportunities and foots the bill on tools for their technicians. Donnie says his technicians are salaried, so they don’t have to give up their time for training and conferences, but they want to grow, and the company takes care of all expenses.

“For AAPEX, we’ve [brought] 12 of our technicians out there and we enrolled them in classes, and we paid for them to come out there. We gave them spending money, and they went to their classes. We also are on board with auto tech training through the NAPA e-learning. So, we do online training, we go to the monthly training they’re offered every

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“THE BIG THING IS TEAMWORK. CAN I GET EVERYBODY TO WORK TOGETHER AS A TEAM?”

FRANK HUDSON CO-OWNER TROY AUTO CARE

month, and NAPA sponsors the classes and send guys there each month,” Donnie says.

Community Involvement

The Hudsons are also passionate about their community and in finding ways to give back, whether to charities or in elevating the profile of the trades within schools. It’s something they actively participate in and because of that example, their team members choose to serve alongside them.

“Every community event that we have, we always have a lot of our employees show up and help out, not because I told them to be there, but because they want to be there. So anytime we do things in the community, they want to be involved. Some don’t even live in this community, but they want to be involved because they’re part of the family,” says Donnie.

For Kristi, service has meant returning to her alma mater, Oakland Schools Technical Campuses, Oak Tech as the locals call it. She wants students to discover automotive in a way they may not have seen before, particularly for teen girls.

“It’s making sure that the schools are recruiting them the proper way and making sure that they have the proper equipment and tools for the kids,” Kristi says.

She says when she attended Oak Tech, the equipment was donated and outdated, and to attract and keep the attention of today’s kids—all digital native and computer savvy—they need the latest equipment, particularly those that are computer-based, which kids today are comfortable learning on.

“Outdated donated equipment doesn’t get me excited,” says Kristi. “If we can get them top of the line [equipment] like in my shop ... we can show them all the possibilities. You don’t have to be covered in grease at the end of the day. You got scan tools and computers and iPads. They’re technicians.”

From this partnership, Troy Auto Care gains youth apprentices who get first-hand opportunities within the shop.

“We have seven apprenticeship kids that come out of high school then into that NAPA apprenticeship program, the two-year college program, to be trained to be technicians,” says Donnie Hudson.

The Cherry on Top of the Trifecta

Of course, there’s so much more to share about Troy Auto to further validate why the company and its owners have been so celebrated in 2022, first through NAPA, then Women in Auto Care, and finally AAPEX. For Kristi, who was told she couldn’t work in the field because of her gender, she now carries the mantle of being recognized as one of the best within it.

“Just the fact that they chose to nominate me meant a ton to me. I was in the automotive field way back in high school, and I started to go to college for it and I was informed I was a female, and I was in the wrong field. So, I listened to somebody, and I became a firefighter paramedic,” she says. “Now that I’m back in the field, my big goal is getting the young students, especially the females, into this field and they need a voice behind them.”

She says that’s what the organization has given to her.

“Basically, Women in Auto Care helped give me my voice back to stand up to people and say, ‘No, this is what I want to do. I can do it.’ And look, I did do it. Women and Auto Care helped me with that.”

Shop Fix Academy and Leads Near Me Announce Partnership

Leads Near Me has formed a partnership with Shop Fix Academy to work together to better elevate current and new clients.

The preferred vendor status, as the relationship is dubbed, will give each businesses clients access to coaching (for Leads Near Me clients) and digital advertising (for Shop Fix Clients).

“Your shop will grow dramatically by working with Leads Near Me and Shop Fix Academy,” said Ryan Burton, founder and CEO of Leads Near Me. “They offer best-in-class coaching paired with our marketers that know how to increase your car count. It’s a lethal combination. We know because we’ve already done this hundreds of times.”

The two companies have several upcoming projects in the works.

“We are recommending that Shop Fix members use Leads Near Me for their digital marketing solutions. We will be working together in the future to make this an even more powerful relationship,” said Aaron Stokes.

Hanvey: Right to Repair Delayed a 7th Time

In his opening remarks leading into the 2022 AAPEX Opening Session, Bill Hanvey, president and CEO of the Auto Care Association (ACA), announced that Right to Repair was delayed again for the seventh time.

Hanvey said automakers called compliance to the law “impossible” and he encouraged the aftermarket industry to continue to “apply the pressure for next year” saying the fight will go to Maine.

“This is a consumer choice issue, and we’ll make sure the vehicle owners needs are met,” said Hanvey. “Be prepared to activate your employees and your customers in this new Congress.”

He also called on shops to be more proactive, recommending they choose a dedicated ambassador for their companies for the purpose of interacting with legislators on behalf of the industry and their customers.

“Send a letter to your legislators. Vote early, vote often, do it now,” said Hanvey. “As we work through the legislative side of Right to Repair, we’re also working on the technical side. AAPEX isn’t just parts, it’s partnership.”

Paul McCarthy, president and chief operating officer of the Automotive Aftermarket Suppliers Association (AASA). McCarthy spoke alongside Hanvey, reiterating the importance of full industry involvement.

“Let your voice be headed in those issues that matter most to you. Speak up to your legislator,” McCarthy said. “You are the businesspeople who are creating our future. What you bring to work every day is creating this future and raising the bar. We are proud to support you and the work you do every single day.”

Tesla Recalls 24K Vehicles for Seat Belt Issues

Tesla has announced a recall of around 24,000 vehicles, according to Reuters.

The recall impacts some 2017-2022 Model 3 vehicles. There may be an issue with the second row left seat belt buckle and second-row center seat belt anchor in that they, “may have been incorrectly reassembled during vehicle service,” according to Reuters.

Tesla told the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration that it has had reports of 105 service repairs for vehicles that could be related to this recall, and that includes warranty claims. These reports are from vehicles in the United States.

Proposed New Jersey Bill Seeks In-Car Subscription Restrictions

A bill introduced last month in New Jersey wants to take action against in-car subscriptions.

According to Jalopnik, Assembly Bill No. 4519 was introduced in September by New Jersey Assemblyman Paul Moriarty (D - Camden and Gloucester.) The proposed bill would make it illegal for automakers to, “impose subscriptions for safety and convenience features, if the components that enable them are already pre-installed in the vehicle,” according to Jalopnik.

“The provisions of this bill do not apply to any third-party service provider that offers features such as satellite radio or in-car WiFi,” states the bill. Features that are a “live” service or need to have an active investment and development from an entity would still be allowed to use the subscription model.

If enacted, the bill proposes a penalty of no more than $10,000 for the first offense and no more than $20,000 for an additional offense. Jalopnik reinforced that this bill is for subscription services only, meaning that one-time and post-sale charges would still be legal pursuits.