Over 40 Years in the Auto Industry

Time Magazine Quality Dealer of 1990

Jim Lupient began his career in the automotive industry at the age of sixteen while working for the Schmelz brothers, who owned a Kaiser-Fraser dealership in Northeast Minneapolis. He was hired as a lot person to wash cars. A few years later he went on to be a Used Car Salesperson for Loop Packard. A year later Loop Packard went out of business and Jim went to work for Central Hudson.

Driven to succeed, he was their number one New Car Salesperson within 90 days. When Hudson changed to Rambler, Jim remained their number one Salesperson for the next ten consecutive years. In 1964 he was offered the position of Sales Manager for Iten Chevrolet, Minnesota's largest Chevrolet dealership. Five years later, in 1969, Lupient opened his first dealership, Jim Lupient Oldsmobile. Over the years the additional franchises were added, including GMC, Isuzu, Suzuki and our newest addition, Jim Lupient Infiniti.

Time Quality Dealer of the Year Award and Sports Illustrated American Car Dealer Award In 1990, among 33,000 dealers, Jim Lupient received TIME magazine's Quality Dealer of the Year award. During that year, he served as an official national spokesman for all recipients of the TIME magazine's Field Dealer Award. He was honored for his outstanding performance as an auto dealer and as a valued citizen of the community. In 1992, Jim was awarded the Sports Illustrated American Dealer of the Year award as well as the top foreign car sales award. Jim Lupient is the only dealer to have received both awards in one year.