The Merchant Automotive lobby...
The Merchant Automotive lobby is bright, clean, and inviting. Jerrod Glover looks up a part for a regular customer.
While traveling through Michigan to visit some diesel speed merchants, one question kept popping up. “Are you going to visit Merchant?” We hadn’t planned on it, but since it seemed to be a “must-do” item on everyone else’s mind, we figured it would be worthwhile. It certainly was.
Merchant Automotive was founded in 2004 by Eric Merchant. Eric’s passion for anything with a motor started in high school. He took his passion and turned it into a career, starting in 1993 working in a small shop doing brakes and alignment work. His knowledge increased daily and he took a position in a GM dealership in 1995 and advanced up the ranks over the next 10 years. Along the way, Eric studied hard in the business, taking more than 3,000 hours of GM training and maintaining ASE Master Certification, which he earned in 1998.
Eric found himself in a niche and quickly gaining a reputation for fixing diesel engines. Before long, he had customers coming in from all over the Midwest to have work performed at the dealership. About that same time, the diesel performance revolution was starting to go full swing and it was a natural progression to not only be able to fix some of the toughest problems, but also to upgrade the trucks.
After contemplating the thought of opening his own shop, Eric finally made the move in March 2005 to a 3,700-square-foot building in Holland, Michigan. Besides the website, which sells parts and accessories for GM diesel-powered trucks, there is also a full-service repair shop. The company now has five employees in less than three years and continues to grow. In fact, Merchant just moved to Zeeland, Michigan, to a bigger shop.
Along with the repair shop and online buying, Eric has added a fab shop to the mix, and now Merchant Automotive is building anything from pulling hitches to traction bars, all the way up to custom twin-turbo buildups.
Merchant Automotive earned great recognition recently for building the engine and transmission in a truck named Nasty Girl. This truck has dyno’d more than 1,000 hp on at least two separate occasions and is used as a daily driver by its owner.
“We are a real shop, member of the BBB, and licensed by the State of Michigan,” says Eric. “All of our technicians are certified by the State of Michigan, so you can be sure you’re getting the best for your truck.”
While we were there, we got to see a twin-turbo, stroker engine project that’s well under way, and quite a few other interesting things going on. If you’re in the area, you owe yourself the treat of stopping by. And if you’re not in the area, rest assured you can still do business with Merchant Automotive over the Internet or over the phone.
Top Online Sellers
1. Transmission Spin-On Filters
2. Air Filters
3. Silverline Exhaust
5 Hottest Products
1. Twin-Turbo Stroker Motors
2. Crate Engine Program
3. Complete-Built Powdercoated Crate Transmissions
4. Remanufactured Transfer Cases (with pump upgrade)
5. Regears (it’s a full-service repair facility)