McDonald Automotive History

The McDonald name has been prominent in the southern Alberta since 1942. That is when Wallace McDonald entered business as a partner in Walker and McDonald to sell John Deere farm equipment. At that time, they had only five employees and conducted business from a location on 47th Avenue in Taber, across from the U.G.G. grain elevator. The business primarily sold farm machinery until 1947 when Wallace got involved in selling cars, starting with the Studebaker. Six years later he had a complete line of Chrysler and Plymouth vehicles, and remained associated with Chrysler until 1958.

In April 1958 Wallace’s son, Ken, obtained a franchise with General Motors to service and sell Chevrolet, Oldsmobile and Chevy Trucks. McDonald Chevrolet Buick GMC Ltd., as it is known today, moved to its present location on November 12, 1980. A second dealership was opened in Lethbridge, in August of 1990, and was known as Saturn of Lethbridge (then McDonald Auto Centre). A third store, McDonald Nissan, was acquired from Lethbridge Nissan in September of 2004. Although the Saturn location was sold in January of 2012, the 2 remaining dealerships still employ approximately 60 people.

Ken McDonald envisioned the dynamic growth and progress experienced in Southern Alberta. His ethical business practices and sense of community leadership worked hand-in-hand towards building the successful operations we have today.

We are now into the third generation of McDonald’s in the southern Alberta auto business. Our goal has always been to treat both our customers and employees like family, and have always taken great pride in providing excellent customer service. It’s this philosophy that has earned us numerous manufacturer & community awards over the years.

We are proud to have been a part of the Southern Alberta’s Auto Industry for almost 80 years!!