Heiser Ford Lincoln August Newsletter, featuring General Manager Chris Meyer
GENERAL MANAGER, CHRIS MEYER, GOES FURTHER FOR THE CUSTOMER
AND AS A COMMUNITY ACTIVIST!
For +Heiser Ford Lincoln's Chris Meyer, providing quality
customer service goes beyond selling and servicing cars. Commitment and knowledge of the brand’s
products isn’t enough. He really
relishes giving back and has developed a true passion as a community
activist. For that, we’d like highlight
our General Manager this month.
Around the dealership, both customers and employees know
Chris as the “go to” guy. Obviously, he
has a history of getting things solved and resolved! Yet, Chris likes to preach about “going one
step further”. It’s no wonder his track
record for retaining customers is exemplary.
A recent Google review really says it all:
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| Heiser Ford Lincoln General Manager |
Chris has been a dedicated Heiser Ford Lincoln employee for
over 30 years. He started as a lot
attendant yet quickly rose to the top, wearing a great variety of hats along
the way. Thus, Chris can empathize with
employees and often helps coach them on improvement. He is seen as a versatile leader that
understands the challenges and rewards of each role in both sales and service.
His motto is “treat everyone the way you would want to be
treated.” So, Chris encourages great
customer service and revels in the outstanding online reviews the dealership
receives. Oftentimes, customers talk
about how comfortable they feel in the Heiser Ford Lincoln showroom: “It’s almost like being a part of a
family!” Considering the hours he puts
in, Chris is happy to have customers feel a home here, too.
Besides running the dealership, Chris believes it is
important to give back to the community.
Through his leadership in +Ford Motor Company's “Drive 4 UR School &
Community” programs, Chris has helped raise over $30,000 to support local
schools and charitable organizations. In
addition, he recently partnered successfully with +Autism Speaks to heighten
awareness about their exciting new research in the field.
Outside the business, Chris enjoys skiing and racquetball
and loves spending time with his family.
He is the proud father of two, and can be found cheering for his son and
daughter at their activities. Chris also
instills the value of community service in his children, and has them work many
of the Heiser displays at charity events, sometimes dressed as our mascot,
Stubby!
We invite you to come in and meet our General Manager soon,
or email Chris at cmeyer@heiser.com.
THE 2013 LINCOLN MKZ RANKED MOST APPEALING COMPACT PREMIUM CAR IN J.D. POWER & ASSOCIATES APEAL STUDY
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| 2013 Lincoln MKZ |
The APEAL study examines how rewarding a new vehicle is to own and drive, based on owner evaluations of 77 vehicle attributes. The 2013 APEAL study is based on responses gathered between February and May of 2013 from more than 83,000 purchasers and lessees of new 2013 model-year cars and trucks who were surveyed after the first 90 days of ownership. The J.D. Power study reflects the high marks owners give it for exterior styling, intuitive technology, seat comfort and storage. Five Ford vehicles finished in the top three of their segments, with Ford F-250 Super Duty ranking highest in the large heavy duty pickup segment and Ford Mustang named best in the midsize sporty car segment.
“The 2013 MKZ ranking in J.D. Power’s APEAL study is a further proof point that Lincoln’s reinvention is progressing, particularly on our products, the client experience and development of our dealer network,” said Matt Van Dyke, Director, Global Lincoln. “In addition to a strong reception for the MKZ and MKZ Hybrid, nearly 3,000 customers have ‘dated’ the brand, with more than two-thirds never having owned a Lincoln in the past. Our all-new Lincoln MKZ – the first of four all-new vehicles as part of our reinvention through 2016 – continues to draw conquest customers from other premium brands, with the hybrid conquesting at nearly 60 percent. As we have consistently said, Lincoln’s reinvention will be measured in years, not months – and we are very pleased with the progress so far.”
FORD EXPANDS AVAILABILITY OF REAR INFLATABLE SAFETY BELT TO 2014 FUSION
The new 2014 Ford Fusion is the only car in the popular
midsize segment to offer rear inflatable safety belts, adding to the sedan’s
suite of available safety and driver-assist technologies. This option is also
available in the Fusion Hybrid and Fusion Energi. Rear inflatable safety belts
combine the attributes of safety belts and airbags. The shoulder belt developed
for the outboard rear seats contains an airbag. During a crash, sensors determine
when the inflatable belt should deploy and signal the belt’s tubular airbag to
rapidly inflate with compressed gas.
“The inflatable belt is designed to help reduce head, neck and chest injuries for rear-seat passengers, often children and older passengers who can be more vulnerable to such injuries,” said Srinivasan Sundararajan, safety technical leader with Ford’s research and advanced engineering group. “This is another unique family technology that builds on our safety leadership.”
In everyday use, inflatable belts operate like conventional safety belts, and are compatible with child car seats and boosters. During a crash, the inflatable belt helps distribute crash forces across more of a passenger’s torso than a traditional belt – up to five times more. Spreading the pressure over a larger area helps reduce pressure on the passenger’s chest, and helps control head and neck motion. Safety experts acknowledge that the back seat is the safest place for children, and Ford is committed to keeping all vehicle occupants safe. Ford Fusion owners benefit from a number of available driver-assist technologies. Seventy-two percent of vehicles sold are equipped with Ford’s cross-traffic alert rear sensing technology and 58 percent are equipped with a rear view camera.
“The inflatable belt is designed to help reduce head, neck and chest injuries for rear-seat passengers, often children and older passengers who can be more vulnerable to such injuries,” said Srinivasan Sundararajan, safety technical leader with Ford’s research and advanced engineering group. “This is another unique family technology that builds on our safety leadership.”
In everyday use, inflatable belts operate like conventional safety belts, and are compatible with child car seats and boosters. During a crash, the inflatable belt helps distribute crash forces across more of a passenger’s torso than a traditional belt – up to five times more. Spreading the pressure over a larger area helps reduce pressure on the passenger’s chest, and helps control head and neck motion. Safety experts acknowledge that the back seat is the safest place for children, and Ford is committed to keeping all vehicle occupants safe. Ford Fusion owners benefit from a number of available driver-assist technologies. Seventy-two percent of vehicles sold are equipped with Ford’s cross-traffic alert rear sensing technology and 58 percent are equipped with a rear view camera.
2013 FORD FOCUS EARNS HIGHEST POSSIBLE SAFETY RATING FROM INSURANCE INSTITUTE FOR HIGHWAY SAFETY
The 2013 Ford Focus earned a Top Safety Pick+ rating from
the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. Focus is one of six vehicles in the
small car segment to achieve IIHS’s highest rating.
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| 2013 Ford Focus |
“Ford is committed to designing vehicles that help keep
people safe,” said Steve Kenner, global director of Ford’s Automotive Safety
Office. “We are constantly seeking innovative ways to help drivers avoid
accidents and keep occupants safe when an incident does occur.”
With families in mind, Ford took a holistic approach to
safety when designing the Focus – from its ultra-high-strength steel structure
to advanced safety technologies. This approach also helped the small car earn
top safety ratings from the federal government. The 2013 and 2014 Ford Focus
sedan and hatchback, and the 2013 Focus Electric were each awarded a five-star
Overall Vehicle Score from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
The body structure of the Focus is engineered to be highly
protective. It makes extensive use of high-strength and ultra-high-strength
steels that to help protect the passenger cabin in a collision. Boron steel in
the Focus’ structure absorbs and redirects crash forces to protect vehicle
occupants in the event of a crash.
Focus also features Ford’s MyKey® technology, an industry
exclusive. MyKey is designed for families with teen drivers and can be
programed to limit audio system volume, to limit top vehicle speed, and to
encourage teens to wear their safety belts with the use of chimes and by muting
the radio if the front-row safety belts are not buckled.
FORD FOCUS REMAINS BEST-SELLING VEHICLE NAMEPLATE IN THE WORLD, BOLSTERED BY STRONG SALES IN FIRST-QUARTER 2013
Ford Focus, the best-selling vehicle nameplate in the world
last year, retains that ranking through the first quarter of 2013 with global
vehicle registrations up 18 percent compared to the same period in 2012. Based
on analysis of Polk’s latest global registration to date, 288,724 Focus
vehicles were registered in the quarter ending March 31 – the most recent
figures available.
Strong demand in key markets such as China and Brazil fueled
the growth. Focus registrations in China reached 104,065 vehicles, up 153
percent compared to the first quarter of 2012. In Brazil, demand rose 18
percent, with 7,227 vehicles registered during the period.
To meet growing customer demand for Focus, Ford has ramped
up capacity worldwide. Factories, including those in the United States, have a
combined capacity to produce more than 1.5 million Focus vehicles annually at a
rate of more than two vehicles per minute. Focus is available in a range of
models depending on market, including sedan, hatchback, wagon, an electric-powered
model and the high-performance Focus ST.
BUILT FORD GREEN: SUSTAINABLE MATERIALS MAKE AMERICA’S BEST-SELLING TRUCK ENVIRONMENTALLY FRIENDLY AND TOUGH
Ford is proving that pickups can be green and tough by
adding rice hulls to the list of sustainable materials used to build F-150 –
America’s best-selling truck. Ford is using plastic reinforced with rice hulls
– a byproduct of rice grain – in an electrical harness in the 2014 F-150. The
company will need at least 45,000 pounds of hulls in the first year. The rice hulls are sourced from farms in
Arkansas and will replace a talc-based reinforcement in a polypropylene
composite made by RheTech, a Whitmore Lake, Mich.-based automotive supplier.
“The 2014 F-Series exemplifies our continued efforts to use recycled
content in our vehicles,” said John Viera, Ford global director of
sustainability and vehicle environmental matters. “We can have greater impact
in this case because of the size and sales volume of this product.”
Rice hull-reinforced plastic is the most recent example of
Ford researchers and engineers using sustainable material whenever possible in
the F-Series – without compromising toughness and durability. Researchers in
Dearborn are constantly searching for the next sustainable material that can
feasibly be used in Ford vehicles. With F-Series as America’s best-selling
truck for 36 years – averaging more than 650,000 sales per year – the
environmental impact of being as sustainable as possible adds up fast. Ford
estimates about 10 million pounds of recycled cotton are used in F-Series
trucks annually.
“Fuel economy is a top priority when it comes to Ford’s
environmental impact,” says Carrie Majeske, Ford product sustainability
manager. “But we also recognize the tremendous impact that can be made by using
sustainable materials inside our cars, utilities and trucks.”
The eco-friendly aspects of F-Series extend to the
powertrain. The available 3.5-liter EcoBoost engine combines technologies
typically associated with heavy-duty truck diesel engines – turbocharging and
direct fuel injection – in a gasoline engine. The engine delivers fuel economy
gains of up to 20 percent, while reducing CO2 emissions by up to 15 percent.
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