About Us

The Ryan Legacy

Our lineage in the automotive industry goes back to 1945, when James Ryan began his career at Chevrolet Motor Division. This was Ryan's first taste of the auto industry, and he fell in love with it, exhibited by his professionalism and passion throughout the rest of his career. After 12 years at Chevrolet, Ryan left and joined Leonard Rydell, a North Dakota automotive legend. Ryan became General Sales Manager at Rydell Chevrolet in Grand Forks in 1957, eventually working his way up to General Manager as part of the Rydell team.

Although Ryan enjoyed his time at Rydell Chevrolet, after nearly 17 years, he saw an opportunity and went for it by moving to Minot. In 1973, Ryan took over Auran Chevrolet and renamed it Jim Ryan Chevrolet, starting a new chapter in his career and beginning the legacy we’re a part of today. Under Ryan's leadership and his emphasis on customer service, Jim Ryan Chevrolet grew into a booming success, and he built a reputation for treating people with integrity and honesty every single day. This is what customer service still means to us and something that we strive to uphold when working with each and every customer.

Ryan was named a regional finalist for the Time Magazine Dealer of the Year award in 1986, just one of the numerous recognitions for his passion for the industry. After 27 years of leading Jim Ryan Chevrolet, Ryan retired and left the daily operations of the company in the hands of one of his daughters, Kathleen Gaddie. Gaddie continued to build upon her father's legacy, and in the years since, she has grown the Ryan Family Dealerships to include Ryan Nissan, Ryan Cadillac of Minot, and Ryan Honda of Minot. Gaddie was even named a national finalist for Time Magazine's Dealer of the Year award in 2010 and proved that her family's legacy for customer service and quality is as strong as ever.

Part Of Our Community

We go above and beyond just being a local car dealer. As part of our community, we make it a priority to give back to our neighbors through various charitable events every year. Working with Vitalant, we host three blood drives every year. We also have several localized programs, such as the Hockey Jersey Night we host with the Minot Hockey Boosters in October, where young players get to pick up their jerseys and meet players from the Minot State Hockey teams.

We also have a new tradition of hosting a First Responder Appreciation Day in May, where we provide coffee and donuts alongside vehicles from first responders for you to look at and enjoy. The first event’s proceeds of the free-will donations were put towards funding a new ambulance, but we switch up the recipients of this event each year depending on community needs.

We also host a special program with our staff. During some months, we encourage our staff to wear jeans on Fridays in exchange for a small donation to the Jeans Day Fund or an item for the Jeans Day Collection, depending on the chosen local charity of the month that the staff has chosen. We’ve given to the Dakota Hope Clinic, the Domestic Violence Crisis Center, the Horn of Plenty toy drive, and Project Bee to give necessities to those in need. It's a wonderful program that gives all our staff a chance to be involved, and we are always happy to give back to our community.

Visit Us at Our Honda Dealership in Minot

As you might imagine, this remarkable legacy of customer service and support is a lot to live up to, but we take this as a challenge by embracing the history of our company every single day. We always look at the example left for us and redouble our efforts, working harder to guarantee all of our customers have an experience that’s worthy of the Ryan name. No matter what you’re looking for in your next vehicle – whether you want a new Honda or prefer a pre-owned vehicle – you’re treated with respect, honesty, and integrity at any Ryan dealership. That’s the difference the Ryan name represents and the kind of customer service that we continue to deliver today, tomorrow, and for many years to come.