Parkway Auto Group is a Texas-based company that operates a chain of car dealerships across the state. The company was founded in the ‘60s and is a second-generation automotive dealer, and one of the biggest fleets of Chevrolet dealers.
Parkway Auto Group offers a wide range of new and used vehicles from various manufacturers, including Chevrolet, Chrysler, Dodge, Ford, GMC, Jeep and Ram. The company also provides financing options and a full range of automotive services, including maintenance and repair, parts and accessories, and collision repair.
With multiple locations across Texas, Parkway Auto Group has a large inventory of vehicles and a dedicated team of professionals committed to providing customers with a high-quality car buying and ownership experience.
The new location in Pampa will operate as two dealerships, with one building being Chrysler, Dodge, and Jeep and the second becoming the new home for Ford automotives in Pampa. Forbes Durdin serves as the company’s vice president and gave insight into the expansion to Pampa.
“We wanted to expand our fleet,” Durdin said. “So that was what drove us to Pampa, it gave us the ability to make that expansion. With a facility that had potential of further growth and capacity.”
The group was led into Pampa by a mutual connection a mere 11 months ago, before beginning the buyout process in February 2022 and finalizing the deal Jan. 9 of this year.
“We had a mutual connection that let us know that Pike was looking for new ownership,” Durdin said. “We started the process, which can take some time to inventory everything before finalizing the sale. But we couldn’t be more excited to be in Pampa.”
Within the few months that Parkway has taken ownership, the Pampa location has added employees to help take care of its customer base. They’ve also upgraded parts of the facility.
“We upgraded things in the shop, to speed up the service department,” Durdin said. “This week we just got LED lights installed throughout the lot and the service department and provided new lifts for the mechanics to use. Just taking what’s already a good facility and upgrading it to meet the standards of Parkway.”
The Ford store on the lot will be remodeled to meet the Ford image standards, and adding electric chargers and electric vehicle sales.
“We’ve brought the store up to Ford’s EV standards to allow us to sell EV vehicles,” Durdin said. “The previous owner didn’t have interest in being an EV dealer, but since taking ownership we have achieved the title of EV Elite which is the highest standard you can have.”
The company is working on bringing the location up to a commercial vehicle center.
“It’s more business-centric,” Durdin said. “It will allow us to serve the small, medium and large fleet accounts that are in the area of Pampa and surrounding towns.”
In the time since Parkway joined the community, Durdin has joined the chamber board and became a chamber member to ensure Parkway is giving back to the community as much as they give to Parkway.
“I’ve gotten to know the people of the chamber,” Durdin said. “I’ve also got to know the athletic director of the school district [Cody Robinson] and we’re working on a project together to help the school’s sports. I’ve loved Pampa, it’s an oasis of this tight-knit community that just make the town an amazing place to be. We try to make it up there at least once a month.”
The project is in motion with the high school’s athletics and administration to install a new LED scoreboard on Harvester Field. The project is set to be majority sponsored by Parkway, but other companies as well.
“The idea is to give a new piece of equipment to the athletics and also be a source of revenue,” Durdin said. “We want to be as much as part of the community as they’ll allow us to be. We want our employees to be proud of where they work, and be a member of the community that isn’t just a corporate entity that just exists.”
The plans Parkway has are to expand what the Pampa location does and to help build the revenue and tax base of Pampa. Ram will be a major sponsor of the Top O’ Texas Rodeo this year through Parkway, starting the company’s give-back efforts right away.
Parkway-Pampa is located at 123 Hobart and in the coming months will have more additions and upgrades to the site.
