Practicing core values, growing its maintenance business and paying attention to the Internet are some of the things Dahl Automotive will do to remain successful beyond its 100-year anniversary next year, three generations of the Dahl family said Tuesday.

They spoke about the business, which will mark 100 years in 2011, as part of the Leadership at Noon lecture series at Viterbo University. The event featured fifth-generation owners Andrew, Jansen and Tyler Dahl; their father, company president Harry Dahl; and his father, Kenny Dahl.

The Dahls operate three area automobile dealerships - in La Crosse, Onalaska and Winona, Minn. - as well as Dahl Superior Auto Body in

La Crosse. And in the past several years, they have acquired the LINE-X spray-on truck bedliner business in West Salem and Clearview Design signs and graphics in Onalaska, Jansen Dahl said.

Dahl automotive traces its history to 1911, when Andrew H. Dahl began selling Model T's made by Ford Motor Co. at his general store in Westby. Andrew, who also served as a state legislator and state treasurer, planted the seeds of honesty and integrity in the family business, Harry Dahl said. "That has allowed us to remain in business as long as we have," he added.

Some of the firm's five core values include creating a "blow-your-mind, gotta-tell-my-friends-about-you" experience that makes customers want to come back, and treating customers and co-workers with integrity and respect, Andrew Dahl said.

The Internet has affected how automobile dealers do business, Andrew Dahl said. "For the online shopper, it just opens up a huge resource for researching vehicles, new and used," he said. That's why Dahl Automotive posts lots of information online and makes sure its vehicles are priced competitively, he said.

Vehicles are made better than ever before, so fewer warranty repairs are needed, Tyler Dahl said. At the same time, Dahl Auto-motive has boosted its vehicle maintenance sales through such things as its Quick Lane service.