Schulte Subaru Joins Luther Family

In early November, Luther welcomed a new dealership to the family in a new state. Schulte Subaru opened in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, in 1970. Terry Schulte traveled to Chicago to physically stand in line to bring a Honda dealership to Sioux Falls, but another dealership in Sioux Falls beat him to it. When it was Schulte’s turn, he learned of the Japanese company Subaru and bought the rights to bring it to Sioux Falls for $4,000. 

Schulte owned other dealerships that were all sold in 2000, but they kept Schulte Subaru. Later on, Terry Schulte’s son, Mike, and his wife, Sarah, became co-owners of Schulte Subaru. General Manager Jason Hanson has been at Schulte for 15 years and has served as General Manager for three years. 

The sale consisted of the Schulte Subaru dealership and a separate body shop on the south side of Sioux Falls. The body shop across the street from the dealership will become a Collision & Glass Center. The Schulte family decided to sell the final dealership to find new adventures but wanted to ensure the new owners would take care of the 120-plus employees. “It wasn’t all about the money for them, it was more about leaving the store in good hands,” said Hanson. Since the official acquisition, Luther’s home office staff have visited Schulte on multiple occasions, helping them train on new systems and get them transitioned to Luther. 

“You always wonder what an acquisition means or what will happen, but it has been absolutely amazing so far. The people that we’ve talked to and those who have been here to train during this process have been amazing, they’re just great people,” said Hanson. “Before the sale, anybody we would talk to about Luther never had a bad thing to say. That’s pretty amazing, especially when there are over 4,000 employees and a lot of dealerships.”

Schulte Subaru has been nationally recognized, being Subaru’s Love Promise Retailer of the Year in 2020, for their commitment to the community and going above and beyond. Schulte Subaru supports the Sioux Falls Humane Society and the Children’s Home Society, among many other local organizations. They took their commitment one step further on one dangerously cold -40-degree day in February 2020 when one manager’s wife called to say she couldn’t get her car started. 

“We all realized that there were probably a lot of people dealing with that same issue, so we started posting on social media,” said Hanson. “We let people know if your car doesn’t start, give us a buzz, and we’ll send someone out to you to jump the car,” said Hanson. In just two days, Schulte Subaru jumped 125 cars around the Sioux Falls area. Finance Manager Jeremy Griffith also won Subaru’s Shining Star Award in 2022. Six winners are selected each year for living the Subaru Love Promise. 

“Our mantra here is to go above and beyond and do something special when you can,” said Hanson. “It’s important for us to be involved in the community and help where we can help.”