Powered by Women: Mary Petrovich, Chair and CEO, Dealershop USA, Bloomfield Hills

Mary Petrovich, chair and CEO of Dealershop USA in Bloomfield Hills, credits the game of golf for her success in both business and life.

“I wouldn’t be where I am in my life without golf,” says Petrovich, who was a pioneer as a 13-year-old when she became the first female caddie at Franklin Hills Country Club in Franklin. That was just the beginning of her relationship with golf and her pioneering ways.

Petrovich was the first member of her family to attend college when she went to the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor on a Western Golf Association Evans Scholarship for caddies. She also  played softball for the Wolverines.

“Two of my biggest memories are making the softball team and (being voted) captain,” says Petrovich, who graduated with a 3.3 grade-point average, earned four varsity letters as an infielder, and was named the university’s top female scholar-athlete in 1985.

She followed up her time in Ann Arbor with an MBA from Harvard University.

“If it wasn’t for golf and if I didn’t caddie, I probably wouldn’t have gone to college — certainly not the caliber of college as Michigan,” Petrovich says. “From there, there have been a lot of connections to golf that have been a big part of my life.”

Dealershop USA, which is a membership program offering paint shop and body shop equipment and services, reduced credit card fees, equipment installation, inspection, and certification to 3,000 customer dealerships across the country, is just the latest in Petrovich’s list of successes.

She purchased the U.S. part of the business, started in Montreal in 2020, and has quadrupled its revenue since then, as the company is able to buy direct from the factory at significantly lower prices.

Dealershop also puts vendors and suppliers through a rigorous review process to make sure dealers, collision centers, and auto body shops get the best products at the best prices.

Among the other 5,000 products and services provided by Dealershop are auto glass repair, car wash equipment, discount detailing products, digital license plates, EV charging solutions, identity validation, office supplies, remote video surveillance, uniforms, and waste management.

In addition, as a senior adviser at the Carlyle Group corporate private equity firm in 2005, Petrovich acquired the money-losing AxleTech — Meritor’s former off-highway axle business, with $100 million in revenue — for $5 million of equity and $20 million of debt. “In fewer than three years, we sold the business for $350 million,” Petrovich recalls.

Throughout her career, she’s been a pioneer and a success.

She was president of Dura Automotive’s global $1 billion driver controls unit, and was the first female to attain vice president level by age 30 as business unit leader (operations and supply base management) at AlliedSignal. Earlier in her career, Petrovich served in a variety of engineering, manufacturing, and finance roles with Chrysler Corp. under Lee Iacocca, as well as General Motors.

Always in the background was her relationship with golf, and she proudly admits she currently carries a 5 handicap.

“I admit to a golf addiction,” she says with a chuckle. “Ultimately, it’s a game of competition. You can make it about everybody else, but in reality it’s about how well you can do — focusing on one shot at a time, controlling what’s in front of you.

“Golf and business are similar in that the top of the pyramid gets pretty sharp. There’s always someone better and there’s always room for improvement. The difference is that to be successful in business, you need to have a great team.”

Although she has a primary role at Dealershop, Petrovich looks forward to a future of serving on boards of directors of companies that will revolutionize business and transportation.

Currently, she’s chair of Xeeva Inc. in Southfield, which transforms indirect spend management with best practices around AI-powered, spend analytics, data management, data sourcing, and procurement solutions. She’s also chair of Traxen in Plymouth Township, which is developing its iQ-Cruise, an intelligent speed control system designed to reduce fuel consumption and improve safety and driver satisfaction significantly.

She’s also a director of ZF CV Systems Europe BV in Germany, a global technology company supplying advanced mobility products and systems for passenger cars, commercial vehicles, and industrial technology, and Nikola Corp. in Arizona, which produces hydrogen fuel cells for Class 8 trucks.

In the past, she’s been a director of Modine Manufacturing Co., Woodward Inc., WABCO Holdings, GT Advanced Technologies, and GTAT Corp.

“I’m looking forward to continuing to transform businesses on boards,” Petrovich says.

Things have come full circle for Petrovich, who now gives back to the association and the scholarship program that gave her a head start in life and business; she’s a director for both the Western Golf Association and the Evans Scholar Foundation.

The game and being proficient at it has helped when playing business golf, adds the three-time club champion and U.S. Amateur participant. “I show up to the course with a 5 handicap and suddenly I’m the smartest person around.”

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