the latest issue

november/december2015
THE MAGAZINE FOR TOYOTA DEALERSHIPS
FLASH BLACK
by
Brin Wall
N EXT SC I O N I C O N ?
C-HR CONCEPT
number comes exclusively in Black, but a choice of two playful accent colors—Electric Lime and Cherry
Pearl—really make it pop. The contrast color glides along the lower front grille trim, beneath the headlights
and down the side window trim. It also coats the power mirrors. A set of 15-inch black alloy wheels and
custom badge finish the look.
With only 1,500 making an appearance in dealerships starting in December, this eyeful outfit will make
tracks down the runway.
Prototype shown. Production models may vary. Photographed with permission at The Neon Museum, Las Vegas.
Photo ID: Scion CH-R Concept
Who doesn’t love a little black dress? Enter the 2016 Prius c Persona Series Special Edition. This sleek little
november/december2015
DEALER DOINGS:
Jim Hudson Toyota
South Carolina Dealer “Raises the Bar” with Student Contest
Dan Nied
A little motivation can lead to great things.
Cummings’ family manage commitments, including his
basketball practices.
Case in point: the “Raise the Bar Win a Car” contest
held by Jim Hudson Toyota in Irmo, S.C.
The dealership wanted to do something special to
motivate students of seven area high schools. The result
was a contest in which counselors nominated junior class
students who had at least a 3.0 grade point average, a
good attendance record and were active in the school
and community.
Two nominees were drawn from each school, and the
“I really didn’t think I would win,” Cummings said
after the final drawing. “This will help my mom out a lot.
She takes us everywhere and drives us everywhere, so it
will take a load off of her shoulders.”
“His mother was overjoyed,” says Jim Hudson Toyota
Client Relations Manager Dave Ellison. “It couldn’t have
gone to a more deserving family. Kevin is just a great kid.”
winner of the final drawing at the end of the school year at
the dealership—won a brand new Scion xB.
intended purpose of helping a deserving student. And
wheels are already in motion for this school year. Ellison
The winner, Irmo High School’s Kevin Cummings, still
needs to get his driver’s license. Still, the xB will help
Ultimately, “Raise the Bar, Win a Car” served its
says this time the grand prize will be a new Scion iM.
november/december2015
by
2
Dealer Doings
7
The Place to Be
11 On the Cover: Diamond in the Rough
There’s a lot to talk about. Toyota dealers across the
nation are doing good things in their local communities.
S T A F F
Manager
Lora Jones
Editor
Lisa Yamada
Writers
Dan Miller
Dan Nied
Design
AkinsParker Creative
Scion’s C-HR concept is a study in contrasts: chiseled yet
sleek, unconventional but functional.
13 Devotion to Safety
Treat your employees right and they’ll treat your customers
right. That’s how it works at McGeorge Toyota.
E D I T O R I A L
toyotatoday
2
Jennifer Pelky has devoted much of her professional
career to ensuring parents know how to properly keep
their kids safe in the car.
toyotatoday.com
Published six times per year for Toyota dealers and dealership personnel by the Corporate Communications
Division of Toyota Motor North America. Copyright ©2015 by Toyota Motor North America.
Contents may be reprinted with permission. All rights reserved.
Address magazine inquiries to:
Lisa Yamada
TEL: 469.585.1039 eMAIL: [email protected]
For customer inquiries please contact
the Toyota Customer Experience Center:
TEL: 800.331.4331
For product and company information:
WEB: toyota.com TEL: 800.GO.TOYOTA
That Look
Jim Hudson Toyota in Irmo, S.C., conducted a contest to motivate high school students. Winner Kevin Cummings’ (far right)
reaction after winning a 2015 Scion xB was priceless.
DEALER DOINGS:
DEALER DOINGS:
DEALER DOINGS:
Gale Toyota
Toyota of El Cajon
Bobby Rahal Toyota
Party with a Purpose
A Watershed Moment
Donation Aids American
Red Cross
Gale Toyota of Enfield, Conn., showed its support for Breast
involved, wearing their dress blues with pink bow ties
Cancer Awareness Month by sponsoring the fourth annual
and escorting the models to the applause of family members,
“Pink Party” at West Hartford’s Blue Back Square in October.
friends, and supporters.
Hundreds of people filled the streets to dance, listen to live
music, sample food from local vendors and enter a raffle to win
iM—each wrapped in “breast awareness pink,” Partygoers
prizes. There were also swag bags stuffed with donated items,
were invited to sign the vehicles and both cars were soon
including gift cards, cosmetics, tasty treats and other goodies.
covered in signatures, positive thoughts and other well-wishes.
Local breast cancer survivors participated in the event
Gale Toyota displayed a pair of 2016 Scions—an iA and
Sales Manager Dominic DiBella explained the importance
by walking a pink runway and showing off the latest fashions
of the cause saying, “It was important to sponsor this event
from nearby retailers. Connecticut stylists pitched in by doing
because breast cancer has touched our entire family,
hair and makeup for the models. Even local fire fighters got
including our workforce and customers at our dealership.”
Pretty in Pink
From left: Barbara
Hodges, Sharon
Summers and Kathy
Pilotte of Gale Toyota
help kick off Breast
Cancer Awareness
month in style at the
fourth annual Pink Party
in West Hartford, Conn.
toyotatoday
3
Charles Pannunzio
San Diego, Calif., is renowned for its beaches, mountains,
and grasslands. It also happens to be the most biologically
rich county in the continental United States, home to the
golden eagle, mountain lion, and fairy shrimp.
The area’s watershed, which includes reservoirs,
wetlands, and tide pools, is a crucial part of the ecosystem.
That’s why Toyota of El Cajon employees joined forces with
the Padres Volunteer Team and the San Diego River Park
Foundation in collecting debris in the Forester Creek area
in Santee. The effort was part of a cleanup that targeted
20 sites in the San Diego River watershed, with a goal of
collecting 3,605 pounds of refuse.
Toyota of El Cajon President Greg Kaminsky recognized
that collaboration could make a big difference, “We are
so proud to join the San Diego River Park Foundation and
support the great work that they do,” he says.
This is not the first time Toyota of El Cajon has worked
with the foundation. Since August 2014 the two have
partnered on a project in which one tree was planted
for each car sold at the dealership. Through the first 10
months, the dealership has given the foundation funds to
plant more than 6,000 trees in the 1,700-acre watershed.
Cleanup Crew
Toyota of El Cajon employees and their families were among
the Padres Volunteer Team members who helped pick up
trash in the San Diego River watershed.
Signs of Support
Participants signed
their names and
wrote messages of
memorial, hopes and
achievements on two
pink Scions that Gale
Toyota displayed at
the Pink Party. Both
vehicles are now on
the showroom floor
at the dealership.
by
Dan Nied
RAV for Red Cross
The American Red Cross Central Pennsylvania uses
a RAV4 donated by Bobby Rahal Toyota to deliver aid
throughout the 22 counties it serves.
Sometimes, bad things happen in the world.
That’s why the American Red Cross is such an important
organization, ready to help at a moment’s notice.
Bobby Rahal Toyota in Mechanicsburg, Penn., recently
donated a new RAV4 to the American Red Cross Central
Pennsylvania. The nonprofit’s staffers and volunteers will
deliver aid throughout the 22 counties it serves.
Last year, the organization responded to 520 disasters
in the area, helping 803 families. Now, thanks to Bobby Rahal
Toyota, they’ll be able to do even more.
november/december2015
by
Mark Wasserman
4
toyotatoday
november/december2015
by
DEALER DOINGS:
DEALER DOINGS:
St. Cloud Toyota
Arlington Toyota
Social Media Helps Load a Tundra with School Supplies
Dealer Raises Awareness about Suicide, Mental Illness
Normally, when touting the exceptional cargo-carrying
capacity of the Tundra, salespeople express it in terms of
volume or weight. But Jeff Fuller had a different payload
in mind.
“We’re always looking for ways to connect with our
customers,” says Fuller who is social media manager at St.
Cloud Toyota in Waite Park, Minn. “We thought: Why don’t
we challenge the community to fill up the back of a Tundra
november/december2015
with school supplies?”
Fuller contacted officials at the local school district,
by
Dan Miller
Then Fuller fired up the social media machine, promoting
In the quiet of a hotel room while picking up her daughter
to raise awareness in Jason’s honor. “The more I learn
the month-long campaign on Facebook and Twitter.
at college, Tracey Vicari read a Facebook post by Steve
about the stigma of mental illness and how often it gets
Arkin, a Kansas City neurologist who she knew only as a
swept under the rug, the more compelled I am to do some-
Sales consultant Rick Knettel also got in the act,
starring in a lighthearted YouTube video, while local radio
stations promoted the effort.
It worked! Generous patrons dropped a wide range
of school supplies in the Tundra’s bed.
“The donations were made anonymously, so it’s
impossible to say how many people participated,” says
fellow middle school classmate in the 1970s. Moments
later, the co-owner of Arlington Toyota in Palatine, Ill.,
was crying.
“Steve was very candid: He had just learned that
his son, Jason, who had struggled for years with mental
thing about it,” she say. “I’m a really lucky person. I have
a thriving business. My family is healthy and happy. I can’t
just go through life collecting and not giving back. For some
people, every day is a struggle.”
illness, had committed suicide while he was attending
Vicari has opened up the dealership’s newly expanded
Northwestern University, “ says Vicari. “It hit me like a ton
124,000-square-foot facility for the nonprofit’s Spring Gala
who welcomed the support and provided a list of commonly
Fuller. “But it turned out to be quite a lot of supplies, which
of bricks. I was devastated. I didn’t know Jason. I barely
fundraiser. And she supports a foundation established by
needed items. The dealership dressed up a 2015 Tundra with
the schools very much need. We’re always trying new and
knew Steve. But this could have been anyone’s kid. It could
the Arkin family that’s helping to underwrite presentations
a custom “Tundra of Supplies” wrap and prominently placed
different things and this one worked well. We’re definitely
have been my son or daughter.”
by Kevin Hines at area high schools. Hines is the author
it in at the Crossroads Center mall just over a mile away.
considering doing it again in 2016.”
of Cracked, Not Broken, a book that tells of how Hines
In the months since, Vicari has been channeling
that raw emotion—with the enthusiastic support of her
brothers and dealership co-owners Gary and Scott—into
5
toyotatoday
the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI). That
includes a “Walk for Jason” held in September in both
suburban Chicago and Kansas City that, collectively, drew
more than 350 participants and raised $117,000.
Arlington Toyota also made a contribution to NAMI
survived a jump off the Golden Gate Bridge in San
Francisco and his transformation since.
“They held an event at Jason’s high school,” says
Vicari. “After the presentation, two kids approached Kevin
and Steve and said they’d had suicidal thoughts and
6
wanted to get help. The Arkins know they can’t bring Jason
that was matched by the Toyota Dealer Matching Funds.
back. But they’re doing everything they can to save others.
And Vicari made a personal contribution to NAMI. But her
We’re right there with them.”
commitment to the cause goes well beyond money.
www.nami.org.
Vicari serves on the board of her local NAMI chapter
november/december2015
Dan Miller
toyotatoday
by
For more on the issue of mental illness, please go to
A Show of Support
Hundreds of participants set
off on a “Walk for Jason” that
raised $117,000 in donations
for the National Association
for Mental Illness.
Special Delivery
General Sales Manager Justin Hollenkamp (second from left), eCommerce Director Kelsey Skansgaard and Social Media
Manager Jeff Fuller deliver the bounty of school supplies to a very grateful St. Cloud 742 School District Superintendent
Willie Jett (far left).
TO THE
At McGeorge Toyota, it’s all about taking
care of your employees. And everyone,
especially customers, benefit.
by
Bob Farlow lives by a pretty simple creed.
“Great employees take great care of customers,”
says the general manager of McGeorge Toyota in
the Richmond suburb of Henrico, Va. “It’s all about
employees and customer retention. I’ve always gone
after customer satisfaction with employee satisfaction.
Dan Nied
“Rod and I are a lot alike in the way we think of
success,” Farlow says. “It’s about what we can do for
“A mentor told me you do not have to
change people, you have to change what
– Bob Farlow
people do.” “If someone isn’t performing, it’s my fault, not
theirs. I have to do something different to get them
to perform the task. It’s never their fault, it’s always
our fault.”
Farlow isn’t saying everyone gets a free pass,
rather that everyone’s roles need to be kept in
perspective.
“The thing that ruins relationships is unmet
expectations,” he says. “So we try to spend a lot of
time with people setting their expectations. We let
them know the minimum expected. We tell them
what they need to do to be above average, we tell
them where we think they can go, and we help
them get there.”
In essence, everybody’s in this together. When
things are bad, they’re bad for everyone. And once
they get better, they get better for everyone. When
the economic and recall crises hit simultaneously
in 2009, management was forced to roll back
401(k) contributions.
With both catastrophes safely in the past,
earlier this year Farlow announced that they
would replenish the fund, along with escalators for
longtime employees. It was an immediate cost of
about $300,000 for the dealership.
Meanwhile, Farlow says there are no meetings
behind closed doors, emphasizing a transparent
policy. And he makes sure to meet with teams off
the lot on a regular basis.
If an employee faces a personal ordeal, that
ordeal becomes the dealership’s, too.
“There’s nothing we won’t do for our
employees,” Farlow says. “If it’s important to them,
we try to find a way to make it important to us.”
As far as customer satisfaction goes, the
dealership goes beyond taking care of employees.
For example, McGeorge Care extends ToyotaCare
for two additional years for free. And customers can
use a complimentary rental car if their service visit
takes longer than two hours.
That creates a sense of community and
appreciation for customers and employees alike.
“There’s a human element, not just a business
element,” Adams says. We just want to help people
in our neighborhood.”
rate. When I got here in 2007, we had about 120
employees. Now we have about 40 more, most have
been added in service operations. But it’s basically the
same team I walked into eight years ago.”
do, take the best care of customers. That’s been
service retention is 65.8 percent.
my approach.”
under 20 percent, and our service turnover is next to
generation Dealer Principal Rod McGeorge.
To describe the atmosphere for McGeorge Toyota
employees, Finance Manager Ed Adams uses a
single word: Empowered.
“We’re empowered to make sure that our
customers’ satisfaction comes first,” Adams says.
“Service, parts, sales, we all have a tight-knit
relationship. I have 33 years in the business and
12 years at McGeorge. Never have I been in such
a family-oriented atmosphere. It’s not what
we’re taught, it’s just what it’s like working with
these people.”
McGeorge Toyota employees are taught to do
what they can, the best they can.
our employees, and that gives us a very high retention
People who are well-trained, who love what they
Farlow shares that perspective with third-
ALL FOR ONE, ONE FOR ALL
Overall sales retention is 49.4 percent, while
As for employee retention: “Our sales turnover is
nothing,” Farlow says.
Service with a Smile
McGeorge Toyota’s impressive customer
retention rate is credited in part to the happy
service they routinely give customers.
november/december2015
Photos by Paul S. Howell
EMBRACING POWER
8
toyotatoday
Keeping it Real
General Manager Bob Farlow believes
in transparency when it comes to
communicating with employees.
LENDING
A HELPING VAN
by
Dan Nied
november/december2015
There’s something about the people at McGeorge
toyotatoday
9
Toyota: They just want to help.
So the scene on a Monday morning might have
been normal around the store, but to outsiders it’s a
peek at how the dealership in suburban Richmond,
Va., forms a tight bond with its neighbors.
A few nights before, an area newscast profiled
Cathy and Charlie James, a local couple with serious
health and financial issues. Cathy is an amputee
on dialysis and Charlie recently had a brain tumor
removed. Their car broke down, and they had no
transportation to get to and from treatments.
“We were in our Monday morning meeting,
and every manager was talking about it,” says Ed
Adams, McGeorge Toyota Finance Manager. “We
just looked at each other and said, ‘Well, we are
who we are.’”
General Manager Bob Farlow found a pre-
Surprise Sienna
Cathy and Charlie James are overjoyed to receive
a dependable Sienna courtesy of McGeorge
Toyota. Now they don’t have to rely on friends
and family for rides to medical treatments.
owned Sienna to donate to the couple. The dealership put in new brakes, tires and took care of the
title and taxes.
“This was about people who genuinely needed
help,” Adams says.” All of our employees saw it
and wanted to do something. So many of us were
involved. It is just the way our dealership is. We
just did what we needed to do to help these people.”
Once Cathy saw the Sienna with a bow on it,
she started to cry.
“That’s cheating,” Farlow told her. “You can’t
cry because then you’re going to make us cry.”
But that was OK. There were plenty of reasons
for tears of joy.
“We just wanted to help out in some way,”
Adams says. “If there was just one thing we could
take off their plate, it makes the whole thing
worth it.”
DRIVING CHANGE
by
Dan Nied
The more you get, the more you should give.
That’s what the folks at McGeorge Toyota believe.
And so, Random Acts of McGeorge was born.
The Random Acts of McGeorge Tundra
pictured above is a vehicle for spreading kindness—
literally. The truck travels to various locations across
Richmond, Va., distributing simple acts of kindness,
whether it’s a free tank of gas or a cold bottle of
water on a hot day.
The dealership hopes to drive the truck
thousands of miles to spread kindness in the
surrounding communities.
The hope is that these random acts of kindness
will serve as an inspiration to be kind to others. It
also serves as a way for the dealership to give back
to the community that has given them so much over
the past 50 years.
The dealership accepts nominations to help
deserving individuals, families and even neighborhoods on #RandomActsOfMcGeorge on Facebook,
Twitter and Instagram, as well as by submitting a
form on randomactsofmcgeorge.com
Architecture. It offers a lower center of gravity,
increased body rigidity, more responsive handling
and improved ride comfort. These attributes help
offset the C-HR’s high profile, promoted in part by
21-inch wheels that flash chiseled spokes, continuing
the diamond theme.
“Even though the C-HR has a high ride height,
our focus was on creating a fantastic urban driving
car,” says Chief Engineer Hiro Koba. “My favorite
place to be on a weekend is at a race track and I
wanted to build a car that I would have just as much
fun driving in the city during the week with refined
driving comfort and responsive, precise steering.”
MAKING A STATEMENT
Dan Miller
was this demographic’s aesthetic—and its belief
been known for vehicle designs that generate a wide
that “polarizing is OK, boring is not”—that set
range of responses. In some cases, it’s love at first
the tone for the designers who developed this
sight. For others, the break from the norm induces
striking new urban lifestyle vehicle. Their answer:
head-scratching. But, ideally, each new Scion makes
a refreshing break from conventional SUVs that is
a statement. After all, that’s the intent of Toyota’s
distinctive, sophisticated, passionate and clean.
trend-setting brand.
of a high-priced diamond. As such, the concept’s
The Scion C-HR, which made its global debut
cabin is like a precision-cut gemstone. Its body
Auto Show in November, would seem to build
incorporates sharp cuts in the front, rear and sides.
on that legacy. Andrew Gilleland, Scion’s new
vice president, certainly thinks so.
example, the lower body’s flowing lines are sensual
“Scion is known for doing things differently,
and are meant to engender strong emotions.
and maybe even being a little weird,” he says. “This
But the chiseled, multi-faceted cabin suggests
C-HR concept embraces that idea and wears it like
protection. Similarly, graphite black accents on
a badge of honor. We couldn’t be more excited to
the grille, rear bumper, fender flares and lower side
add this vehicle to our lineup.”
panels reflect strength and an athletic stance. But
the all-piano black floating roof treatment makes
The C-HR concept is named for its compact
The design is also a study in contrasts. For
size and high ride height. With five doors and a
for a sleek and stylish profile.
hatch for supreme functionality, it’s the perfect
vehicle for “yuccies,” or young urban creatives. It
platform derived from Toyota’s New Global
This complex exterior rides on an all-new
in production form to be divulged in 2016.
“The Scion C-HR will be a standout vehicle for
us,” says Gilleland. “Its styling will lead the way,
but its substance will seal the deal. It will deliver
amazing driving dynamics, superb functionality
and—like all Scions—premium features at an
accommodating price. There’s no doubt this will
be the next iconic vehicle for Scion.”
12
C-HR design was inspired by the sheer sides
as a concept car at the Los Angeles International
Look for full engineering details on the C-HR
toyotatoday
Since it broke on the scene in 2003, Scion has
Photo ID: Scion CH-R Concept
by
november/december2015
WORLD DEBUT OF THE SCION C-HR CONCEPT VEHICLE BUILDS ON
THE BRAND’S UNIQUE BLEND OF QUIRKINESS AND PRACTICALITY
NEXT ITERATION: PRODUCTION VEHICLE
SUBTLY
SAVING LIVES
Buckle Up
After struggling to install a car seat
for her first child, Toyota engineer
Jennifer Pelky took it upon herself
to educate others.
Photos by Brian Watkins
TOYOTA’S PELKY DEVOTED TO CHILD CAR SEAT SAFETY
by
november/december2015
So what if Jennifer Pelky were only 10-years-old?
toyotatoday
13
It was a two-person job and nothing could stop her
from putting together that entertainment center
with her dad.
“I was determined to help him. Basically, I read
the instructions and told him what to do,” Pelky
says years later while sitting in the crash test area
at Toyota Technical Center (TTC) in Ann Arbor,
Mich. “That was my first entry into engineering.
I loved doing it.”
Pelky’s father, Jim Szymanski, wasn’t a great
communicator, but the two bonded through cars.
When she was a child, he would frequently take
her to classic car parades.
“Growing up we had a lot of conversations
about the classic muscle cars like Mustangs,
Camaros and Corvettes.
Fast forward to 2011. Pelky has graduated from
the University of Michigan and is a few years into
her job at TTC. She also happens to be pregnant
with her first child. She goes to Babies R Us to buy
an infant car seat.
But there are issues. She can’t figure out how
to properly install the seat. Eventually, after some
struggle and consultation with a coworker, she
figures it out.
Think about that for a second.
Pelky—who has a passion for cars, a degree from
one of the most prestigious engineering schools in
the nation and a job as an engineer for one of the
top automakers in the world—had trouble figuring
out how to install a normal car seat.
So what chance does the average parent have?
Not much. According to Buckle up for Life,
Toyota’s partnership with the Cincinnati Children’s
Dan Nied
Hospital that helps educate families about child
safety seats, only one in four child car seats are
properly installed.
That’s the issue Pelky is trying to correct.
TAKING ACTION
That confirmed to her that interior safety was
where she wanted to work.
“When you get your vehicle, there’s an anchor
the child seat attaches to,” she explains. “I’m
responsible for making sure that anchor meets
federal regulations.”
After struggling to install her first seat, Pelky
wanted to help other mothers in similar situations.
So she became a certified child passenger safety
technician in 2012. Since then she has worked with
Safe Kids Huron Valley to take shifts at local retailers,
fire stations and community events to help parents
choose the right seat and install it in their vehicles.
In 2014, she joined with Buckle up for Life,
acting as a Toyota spokesperson doing media
interviews and trying to spread the word on the
importance of the issue.
As for that one in four statistic: “Success to me
is getting that to zero.”
It’s a noble goal. But really, Pelky just wants
is to make a difference in the lives of parents and
their children.
“I love the position I’m in,” Pelky says. “I really
can make a difference in other people’s lives. I can
go out in the field to a fitting station, and I can
show people how to fix the problem they have with
their car seats. And I know that when they leave,
they’re safer than when they came in. That, to me,
is huge.”