- (Left): David Wilson Sr. (Right):David Wilson Jr.
The Preston Automotive Group and their dedicated CARS Champion team have led Maryland and Delaware in sales under the government rebate system leaving the President and Vice President of Preston with the title “Kings of Clunk.”
Owner and President of Preston Auto Group, David Wilson Sr. and Vice President, David Wilson Jr. have worked side by side over the past several years tackling a multitude of projects for the Preston Automotive Group. However, the CARS program has been a very tedious and even frustrating at times, making this sales booster one of the most difficult projects faced by the father, son duo.
When speculation of the CARS program began it was originally understood as the Cash for Clunkers Program and appealed to car dealerships everywhere as a great way to stimulate sales. Well the program certainly stimulated sales for those who participated. The Preston Automotive Group has currently sold about 150 new vehicles thanks to the government sponsored program.
The Automotive Group began selling cars under the program on the official start date of July 1st, even though the complete list of rules and regulations was not published until the 24th of July. Preston’s CARS Champion team put together a specific process for qualifying CARS and ensuring that all of the proper paperwork was handled and all anticipated required documentation was collected.
Preston revamped and dedicated an old vacant building on their lot for the CARS program, providing written information and a 30 minute long video that provided information on the benefits of the program and benefits of a more fuel efficient vehicle. The CARS Champion team also attended multiple webinars hosted by NHTSA and NADA in order to refresh their knowledge on the program hoping to retain any and all new information to the program.
The CARS program enabled the Auto Group to draw in customers from Maryland, Delaware, Virginia and Pennsylvania. The Group represents a wide range of makes such as Hyundai, Ford, Mazda, Lincoln, Mercury, Suzuki, Chevrolet, and Nissan although their best sellers were Ford models like the Focus, Ranger and F-150. Even the all new Ford Transit Connect had sold out within the first week of the Transit’s arrival.
As with any government program, it is easy to get stuck in the red tape and the CARS program was no exception. Given only 30 days, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration wrote and published a system of rules and employed the help of Oracle Inc. to establish a system for dealer reimbursement.
Stefanie Lee along with other select employees worked late hours trying to account for the money promised to them under the CARS rebate system. Employees ran into problems such as website failures due to unsustainable traffic on the CARS servers, rejections from the CARS site with deals needing more attachments and even changes in MPG ratings from the original fueleconomy.gov website to the new cars.gov website.
Other complications arose as President David Wilson led the CARS team keeping them focused and on task while being careful not to interfere with daily operations. When the problem of immobilizing the clunkers was brought up, the team soon found that sodium silicate was the solution to seizing the engines and invested in a HAZMAT suit for the individual disabling engines.
With all of the hard work invested into the foundation of Preston Automotive Group’s CARS program, the Preston Group continues to sell under the program and hopes to continue selling under the program with congress’ support in extending the program. Wilson Sr. and Wilson Jr.’s hard work and leadership ability has enabled their success in the Car Allowance Rebate System and has earned them the title of Maryland and Delaware’s Kings of Clunkers.
To visit the cash for clunkers website please go to: http://www.cars.gov
For more information about the CARS Qualifying Center please visit http://www.carfactsus.com
About Preston Automotive Group
Preston Automotive Group services the Delaware, Maryland, Virginia and Pennsylvania area with Chevrolet, Ford, Lincoln, Mercury, Mazda, Suzuki, Hyundai and Nissan brands. The auto group carries the largest selection of new and used cars. Additionally, the dealership services all makes and models, both imported and domestic cars with ASE certified and factory trained technicians. Preston Commercial Division also has Fully Certified Ford & Cummins Techs.
To learn more, visit http://www.prestonmotor.com/
For more information:
Rick Mikolajewski
Preston Automotive Group
CARS Qualifier
410.673.7171 ext. 6732
RMikolajewski@prestonmotor.com
