Business View Caribbean | Feb 2019

I t was the year 1968, when Ernesto (Ernie) Sorrentino uprooted from England to the British Virgin Islands with his wife Maureen and their four young children to manage the service repair business at International Motors Ltd. in Road Town, Tortola in the British Virgin Islands. “He came over, basically, to run the ser- vice department,” says Peter Sorrentino, who, today, co-manages the firm with his brother, Neville. “Dad used to work in England as an auto technician. He was greatly needed over here, because in those days, it was hard to get good technicians in Tortola. As it happened, the timing was right as the BVI was then start- ing to move away from mostly agriculture and more towards tourism, which is about the time the charter boat industry started to develop. In about 1970, our Dad and a business partner ended up purchasing the business from his boss.” That partnership lasted just a few years, as Ernie purchased International Motors from his partner in the mid 1970s. In 2005 Neville and Peter took ownership of the family business. Over the 50 years they have been in business, International Motors has represented many brands - Fiat, Austin-Morris, Mini Moke, Volk- swagen, AMC, and for a short time, Land Rover. “Now, we have Jeep; we’ve represented Kia for 14 years; we’ve had Mazda since 1984; Suzuki since 1982, and Mitsubishi since 2013,” Peter notes. “We’re also dealers for Mercedes, as well, which we’ve had for just a few years.” In addi- tion, International Motors supports a 12-bay auto service facility, a parts department, an auto body shop and International Car Rental (ICR), which is their car rental fleet. Suzuki Marine outboard engines are also part of their portfolio and this segment continues to expand since they started in the marine business just three years ago. 36