Vallejo Chevy/Cadillac dealer named among nation's top performers
Mar 18, 2012 (Menafn - Times-Herald - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) --It's too soon to tell if it's a sign of economic recovery, but it can't be bad that a Vallejo car dealership won national recognition recently as one of General Motors' top locations, a Vallejo business leader said Friday.
TEAM Superstores won General Motors 2011 Mark of Excellence award as among the auto manufacturer's highest performing dealers both for Chevrolet and Cadillac. The recognition covers customer satisfaction as well as sales and other criteria. While it's not TEAM's first time meeting some of the annual awards' criteria, it is the first time it's met them in so many categories, owner Ken Ross said.
Ross received two letters -- one from GM's Cadillac division and one from Chevrolet -- congratulating him.
"Your business acumen and willingness to push your performance to new heights last year has resulted in this distinct recognition of your accomplishment," the Chevy division letter reads. "You are a role model for dealers across the country and I'm proud that we are working together to build success."
The Mark of Excellence are annual awards, Ross said.
"We usually hit the (criteria), but not this high," he said. "This one put us as one of the highest performing stores in the country."
GM has some 6,600 stores, with under 100 earning an award, Ross said.
Ross said he feels pride and relief.
"We feel really lucky we ended up with a good year last year, as close as we came to death before the Lowe's deal in '08," Ross said.
"Our sales and sales tax revenue are up some 25 percent over 2010. And this year's tracking well, also."
Vallejo's Lowe's store was built on land sold to it by Ross.
Ross said part of why TEAM did so well has to do with there being less competition with several dealer closures.
"But also, all the things we've tried to do right over the years -- all the hard work and good deeds -- is starting to pay off," he said. "Maybe also the economy is starting to turn around. You won't know it from the news, but we're seeing good business."
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