Over 100 Years of serving the Hunter Valley Community...
1918 - H E Lancaster was started by Harold Earl Lancaster at the age of 27. The business was originally focused on repairing milking equipment.
It was a loan from a business acquaintance, A B Shaw, that helped Harold to establish the business, and a promise of good customer service ensured people repeatedly returned.
1919 - Within one year, Harold called on the services of his brother Hilton (Dick) who had recently returned from World War I, and soon after the company began to sell new Ford, Maxwell & Studebaker vehicles, as well as Republic trucks.
1924 - Success continued and the brothers’ sister, Mrs Blick joined the firm.
1927 - H E Lancaster was appointed the General Motors Dealer in Singleton, selling Pontiac, Chevrolet and Oakland vehicles. This continued until 1971 when the dealer agreement was not renewed.
1938 - The second generation of the Lancaster family became involved in the business. Don Lancaster, son of Dick worked in the company until his retirement in 1987. Harold's son in law, George Tisdell, also had an impressive record of service, with 45 years in the business, starting from 1939.
1955 - The business survived the famous 1955 flood.
1971 - A fire tore through the John Street site, destroying the vehicle showroom, offices, Spare Parts and Service departments.
On completion of the new building at 80 John Street, Lancasters was appointed the Chrysler dealer, which later became known as Mitsubishi.
1976 - Chris Lancaster, son of Don and third generation of the Lancaster family, began work in the business. Since that time he has seen the company appointed the dealer for: Daihatsu, Holden, Fuso Trucks, and Hyundai.
1998 - The fourth generation of the Lancaster family started in the business. Mark Lancaster, son of Chris, worked in the business while studying for his Business Degree at Newcastle University and during this time worked in all departments of the dealership. Mark along with his father Chris has seen the business go from strength to strength.
2006 - The Lancaster Motor Group moved into their state of the art facility on the New England Highway, the gateway to Singleton. With Holden, Mitsubishi and Hyundai motor vehicles, the Lancaster Motor Group is a well known icon in the Hunter Valley motor industry.
2014 - James Lancaster, Mark’s younger brother, joined the business, as the financial controller and General Manager. James is a qualified Chartered Accountant.
Today, the business is operated by the fourth generation of the family, Mark & James Lancaster.
2015 - Lancaster Motor Group was appointed the Suzuki Automobiles Dealership for Singleton & the Upper Hunter Valley mid 2015
2016 - The Group started a Used Car Clearance / Wholesale yard called “Hunters Cheapest Used Cars” in October.
2017 - Lancaster Motor Group was appointed the Hyundai Commercial Vehicles dealer for Newcastle & the Hunter valley (Hyundai Trucks).
2018 - Lancaster Motor Group has been appointed HSV | Chevrolet dealer for the Hunter, New England & North Western NSW region
2019 - In October 2019, Lancaster Motor Group acquired Ford & Nissan. Lancaster Motor Group is now one of the largest family run & operated dealerships with 8 brands on one site. Since 2016 the group operated Ford & Nissan from a John Street Location
2020 - Holden announced they were leaving Australia & New Zealand. We were allocated the GMSV (Chevrolet) dealership for the Hunter Valley
2021 - Lancaster GMSV was the #1 NSW GMSV Dealer for 2021, based on volume of sales
2022 - Lancaster GMSV was the #1 GMSV Dealer for Australia, based on volume of sales.
2023 - Lancaster GMSV was the #1 GMSV dealer for Australia, based on sales volumes.
