Chris Rasmussen
Instructor/Consultant
Chris Rasmussen has a long history of involvement in the automotive industry. His parents purchased the family’s first Ford, Lincoln & Mercury Dealership in 1969, adding a second Ford, Lincoln & Mercury dealership in 1977. Throughout his early years, Chris gained substantial experience in every department from New and Used Vehicle Sales, Business Office, Service, Parts and Body Shop, contributing to significant improvement in several departments.
After receiving an M.B.A. with an emphasis in Financial Statement Analysis, Chris spent 5 years in public accounting specializing in Financial Litigation and Business/Asset Valuation. He returned to the automotive business in 2003 and soon became Co-Owner of both dealerships. After assuming operational control, Chris oversaw a massive turnaround by focusing on profitability, sound financial management, process efficiency and employee leadership and coaching. During his time as co-owner, he served as the primary decision maker and communication link with Ford and Ford Motor Credit as Dealer Successor.
Chris also served Three Terms (9 years) on the Twin Cities Ford Dealer Advertising Fund (FDAF), a peer-elected position serving the dealers of his regional Ford DMA. FDAF assists in making strategic advertising decisions for key market areas.
In total, Chris has over 30 years of retail dealership experience actively leading every operating department within a dealership along with substantial accounting and financial understanding of a dealership’s financial statements.
Chris joined NCM as Instructor in 2023, with expertise in:
- General management of an automotive dealership, with a holistic understanding of the operations of a dealership.
- Variable and Fixed Operations; process, procedures, departmental structure and primary operating metrics.
- Financial statement understanding and analysis focusing on improvement in profitability and Key Performance Indicators (KPIs).
- Executive Leadership including growth in employee development and establishment of an organizational leadership pipeline, specializing in building a culture of accountability through one-on-ones, coaching and engaging (under/over) performers.
- Customer interaction and communication skills while maximizing the customer’s experience.
Chris has successfully worked with clients ranging from single-point dealers to a 30+ rooftop organization, as well as every size of dealership organization in between. Additionally, he has worked with a variety of OEMs (domestic, volume import and luxury) at both the dealership and OEM level.
Chris has a bachelor's degree from the University of North Texas and master's degrees from the University of Kansas and Rockbridge Seminary. In his free time, Chris enjoys spending time with his wife and three children and is a 3x Ironman and 5x Half-Ironman Finisher.
