He gradually built The Hertrich Family of
Dealerships into one of the best in the United
States in terms of volume sales and customer
satisfaction.
In 1986, the Delaware Automotive and
Truck Dealers' Association nominated Her-
trich for the Time Magazine Quality Dealer
Awards, considered the most prestigious
honor a dealer can receive. A dealer can only
be nominated once every 20 years. In 2006,
Hertrich became the first dealer in any state
to be nominated twice.
"He's won it twice with all that competition
just because of being a shining star," says Ter-
ry Megee, President of the DATDA. "Freddy
has done it two times, which is incredible.
We're in a dog-eat-dog world, competitively striving for mar-
ket share. To get that kind of support from your peers to be se-
lected as the Delaware Dealer of the Year…that's saying your
peers respect you."
Hertrich's formula for success in the automotive business is
buying dealerships during downtowns in the economy. He did
it in the mid-80s and he repeated it 20 years later. He likens it
to the horse racing and breeding business.
Hentrich's entrance into the horse business did not follow
