RESPECTED and popular NSW and Victorian automotive dealer principal and advisor Stephen Johnson has died.

He had a long career in the automotive industry including roles as dealer principal and general manager before starting his own consulting business, All Things Automotive, in 2007 for new and used-car sales and finance.

Mr Johnson (66) started his career in the automotive industry in 1987 as a salesman at Kloster Ford and moved through the industry to become sales manager and then general manager of finance for Kloster in 1996.

Stephen Johnson

He was also dealer principal at Hills Ford Hornsby, general manager at Mosman Toyota (Suttons), general sales manager at Newcastle City Holden and general manager at Brian Hilton Toyota.

His daughter Emma Ireland said he had a vast network of contacts through All Things Automotive, with clients such as Andrew Meideke, Todd Blewitt and Steve Callaghan and was well-known among the dealer network in both NSW and Victoria.

Ms Ireland said that when she was at university, her father offered her a job on reception at his then Toyota dealership, Mosman Toyota.

“He only offered me the job on the proviso that I never work in automotive again, only because he said I’d never leave (‘once you’re in, you’re in! There’s no going back’),” she said.

Mr Johnson was right. Mrs Ireland’s reception job evolved into a 20-year career in the auto industry, working for dealers, OEMs in Australia and the UK, and most recently working 10 years at Volkswagen Group Australia across the Bentley, VW and Skoda brands.

He died 13 months after his initial diagnosis of oesophageal cancer and its subsequent metastasis. He was 66.

Mr Johnson’s family said that his attitude was that he wanted to “live with cancer, rather than die from it” and his positivity after his diagnosis was admired by so many,

He is survived by his wife of 39 years, Robyn, four children (Emma, Leah, Benjamin and Abbie) and four grandchildren, with one on the way.