History

Louis B. Eckstein founded Courtesy Garage in the 1920s. At the time, the Garage was located at Park House, on the corner of White Park Road and Walrond Street, in Bridgetown.

In those days, Courtesy Garage was the local distributor for Hudson and Essex motor cars, and the family business of Eckstein Brothers, which was located on Bay Street, was the distributor of General Motors (GM) Corporation which held the franchise for Buick, Pontiac and Chevrolet vehicles made in the U.S.A. Subsequently, Courtesy Garage took over the GM car lines from Eckstein Brothers.

In 1939, Robert Thom Limited, then distributors of the British-made Vauxhall and Bedford vehicles, bought out Courtesy Garage. This brought the GM range of products under one roof.

Courtesy Garage was bought over from Robert Thom Limited in June 1966, as a result of the decision on the part of the Scottish owners to divest the Barbadian operations. With the new ownership, the decision to re-locate to Wildey was taken.

Then in 1970, Courtesy Garage Limited was appointed sub-distributors for Nissan Motor Company Limited of Japan, manufacturers of Datsun/Nissan motor vehicles.

In 1978, because of the imposition of import restrictions on motor cars in 1977, it was decided to acquire a car rental business, as a means of buttressing the earning capacity of the company. Today the company owns a large fleet of well maintained vehicles ranging from the small Nissan March to the luxurious Infiniti range. Courtesy Rent-A-Car has established itself as one of the leaders in the vehicle rental industry in Barbados.

By 1991 Goddard Enterprises Limited, one of the original shareholders, had increased its share holding to 51 per cent; thus, Courtesy Garage became a Goddard's subsidiary and member of the Goddard's Group of Companies.

Courtesy Garage Today

Currently, Courtesy Garage sells mainly Nissan vehicles. The Company has earned an enviable reputation for the fine quality after-sales service and spare parts back-up which it has provided to customers over the years.

Today's management strongly feels that employees and customers are the company's greatest assets for future growth and progress.

Emphasis is placed on courteous service in keeping with the firm's name, which suggests that founder Louis Eckstein felt that courtesy, and ethical business practice would be the hallmarks of the Company.