Paramount Automotive

Paramount Automotive Group has 18 franchises in western North Carolina.

Benny Yount, the owner of Paramount Automotive Group, began his career in the automotive industry in 1975 at the age of 22. After he had saved up $1,000, he rented a gravel-topped car lot in downtown Hickory for $50 a month and opened for business. By 1989, Yount was able to purchase Paramount Motor Sales, where he had worked as a teenager, and formed Paramount Automotive Group. During the next decade, Yount opened and sold a number of dealerships throughout the Hickory, Valdese, and Morganton areas. Today, Paramount includes Kia dealerships in Hickory and Asheville, NC; a Ford and Hyundai dealership in Valdese, NC; Porsche, Volvo, Volkswagen, Hyundai, Genesis, and a Classic Cars and Trucks showroom in Hickory. Paramount also includes the Foreign Cars Italia dealerships in Greensboro and Charlotte that is home to Ferrari, Aston Martin, Maserati, and Porsche in Greensboro, NC; and Aston Martin, Maserati, Alfa Romeo, and Bentley in Charlotte, NC.

Never driven by a desire to just make money, Yount has been sustained by a strong religious faith. He says the Paramount philosophy is based on "GR 101" or the Golden Rule: Always treat other people as you would want to be treated and always endeavor to do what is right and fair.