FT-AC Concept Is Bold, Ready for Adventure
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november/december2017 THE MAGAZINE FOR TOYOTA DEALERSHIPS FT-AC concept is bold, ready for adventure 7 1 0 2 nov/dec C-HR R-Tuned 2 Dealer Doings 9 Unconventional Racer Jerry’s Toyota supports MDA, Valley Toyota Dealers In the heart of pickup truck country, L&S Toyota Association donates $250,000 to hospital and Earl master technician Paul Sexton races a Prius. Stewart Toyota promotes dog-friendly culture. 11 Path to a Better Life 5 Power of New On the Road Lending helps underserved find affordable Custom builds of the C-HR and Camry take center stage and reliable transportation and gain financial insights. at the 2017 Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA) Show. 13 Thriving and Driving Classic Toyota’s rental car business is booming 7 Adventure Concept and customers are reaping the benefits. The FT-AC surprises and delights at the Los Angeles Auto Show. EDITORIAL STAFF toyotatoday.com Published six times per year for Toyota dealers and dealership personnel Sr. Manager Scott DeYager by the Corporate Communications Division of Toyota Motor North America. Manager Lisa Yamada Copyright ©2017 by Toyota Motor North America. Contents may be reprinted with permission. All rights reserved. Editor Karen Nielsen Address magazine inquiries to: Karen Nielsen Writers Dan Miller TEL: 469.292.2659 eMAIL: [email protected] Dan Nied For customer inquiries please contact the Toyota Customer Experience Center: Design AkinsParker TEL: 800.331.4331 For product and company information: WEB: toyota.com TEL: 800.GO.TOYOTA DEALER DOINGS: Jerry’s Toyota Baltimore Dealership’s Fundraising Efforts Help Kids with Muscular Dystrophy by Dan Miller Happy Campers Representatives of Jerry’s Toyota, including Chief Communications Officer Bill Bolander (third from left), display tokens of gratitude from the MDA and the children they serve at Camp Fairlee. 7 1 0 2 c e d / v o n 2 y a d o t ta o hy does Jerry’s Toyota go above and beyond to raise oy W The MDA said it could organize a golf tournament, t money for the Muscular Dystrophy Association of Greater but needed the dealership’s assistance lining up sponsors. Maryland? Bill Bolander, chief communications officer of Bolander and his colleagues rose to the challenge, the Baltimore dealership, has a simple — yet compelling — convincing business partners, suppliers and others to answer to that question. purchase foursomes for $1,500 to $1,850 each. They also “So these kids can feel normal, even if it’s only for one made a new Toyota vehicle available should one of the week out of the year,” he says. “When you hear them say entrants make a hole-in-one. And they rounded up other that’s what this means to them, how can you not try to do prizes, such as tickets to Baltimore Ravens football games, something to help?” to boost raffle ticket sales. The kids, in this case, are children who struggle with All told, Jerry’s Toyota has helped raise more than muscle disorders, often to the point of being restricted to $160,000 via the four golf tournaments held thus far, wheelchairs. And the week is the time they get to spend at including a record $60,000 this year alone. Proceeds from Camp Fairlee in Chestertown, Maryland. Stacy Alford, executive director of the local MDA, the dealership’s annual car show also go to the MDA, says the funds generated by the dealership allow 65 of increasing its total giving to more than $170,000. these youngsters to experience fun summer activities such as “Jerry’s Toyota does an amazing job creating excitement swimming, fishing, zip lining and playing musical instruments for the tournaments,” Alford says. “We serve over 1,500 families. with their peers at no cost to their families. So this money, all of which stays local, has a huge impact. Jerry’s Toyota first rallied around this cause in 2014. We couldn’t be more thrilled to partner with them.” DEALER DOINGS: Valley Toyota Dealers Association Group Donates $250,000, Helps Phoenix Children’s Hospital Reach Funding Goal by Susan Johnston Taylor John O’Malley remembers the day in July 2004 he got a in the current facility, and capacity for trauma patients will frantic call from his daughter. more than double. O’Malley’s 3-and-a-half-year-old grandson spent “The new Emergency Department will make a world of several minutes underwater in his daycare’s swimming difference for our staff and patients at Phoenix Children’s,” pool before being rushed to Phoenix Children’s Hospital says Dr. David Notrica, medical director at PCH’s Trauma (PCH). The boy was in a coma for two weeks, but made a Center. “We will now have plenty of space and capability full recovery. He’s now a high school football player and a to serve patients and families who come to us.” straight-A student, says O’Malley, president of the Valley As part of the new facility’s ribbon-cutting on Sept. 16, Toyota Dealers Association (TDA) and general manager at the TDA donated over 500 teddy bears and they delivered Camelback Toyota in Phoenix. them in a 2018 Toyota C-HR. Back then, the Valley TDA was just beginning its donor For O’Malley and many others, the important patient relationship with the hospital. That relationship continues work at PCH hits home. over a decade later. Most recently, the TDA donated $250,000 “Those people gave my grandson a new life,” he says. “I’ve never seen anybody so thorough and so dedicated, but 7 to help Phoenix Children’s Hospital Foundation approach 1 0 2 also so nice to the parents and the grandparents. It was just c its goal of raising $40 million to fund a new facility to meet e d / v patient demand. a heartwarming experience, something that I’ll never forget o n Phoenix Children’s is the only Level 1 Pediatric Trauma that they did for us.” 3 Center in Arizona. The current facility was designed to see PCH’s reach extends well past Phoenix, so O’Malley feels y a it’s a fitting recipient for the donation. d 22,000 children per year, but actually sees more than 80,000. o t ta The new facility will be able to accommodate 100,000 annually. “They’re in Phoenix, but touch our entire region,” o oy t It will have 72 private exam rooms compared to 43 rooms he says. Furry Friends In addition to a $250,000 donation to Phoenix Children’s Hospital, the Valley Toyota Dealers Association also provided over 500 teddy bears for patients. DEALER DOINGS: Earl Stewart Toyota Man’s Best Friend is Always Welcome at ‘Dog-Friendly’ Dealership by Kerry Curry If a dog is man’s best friend, then it makes sense that we bring them with us on our daily journeys. In the case of Earl Stewart Toyota in Lake Park, Florida, dogs have been a fixture for more than a decade. Allowing them in the dealership happened over time, says General Manager Stu Stewart. “We started noticing our customers bringing them, particularly when servicing their vehicles, and we kind of liked it,” he remembers. Eventually, the dealership decided to be outwardly welcoming. It installed dog water stations and marked a grassy spot as a dog walk area. Dog Days Earl Stewart Toyota’s partnership/sponsorship “We used the phrase ‘We are dog-friendly’ in our service with Big Dog Ranch Rescue fits in nicely with 7 the dealership’s dog-friendly culture. 1 marketing and the word got out,” Stewart says. “We have 0 2 c e d retired customers who are widows and widowers, and their / v o dog is their companion. We wanted them to feel comfortable n bringing their companion here.” 4 y a About three years ago, the canine-friendly atmosphere d o t attracted the attention of Loxahatchee, Florida-based ta o oy Big Dog Ranch Rescue, the largest no-kill shelter in the t Southeast. The nonprofit approached the dealership about a sponsorship arrangement. The sponsorship totals more than $100,000 annually, Stewart says. Earl Stewart Toyota donated a van for dog transport and has done TV ads promoting the shelter as part of the sponsorship. It also promotes a “Dog of the Month” on its website and on a live Facebook video and pays the adoption fees if someone adopts the dog. Since the promotion began, 45 dogs have been adopted with the dealership paying $9,000 in adoption fees. Customer Paula Botkin, a Type 1 diabetic, has been Cuteness Prevails bringing her service dog, Rosebud, to the dealership since General Manager Stu Stewart is in charge of posting photos of dogs available for adoption buying a Toyota Sienna there in 2015. Botkin, who trains on the dealership’s website. When he saw a picture of a terrier-mix named Oreo two years and shows dogs, says she always brings a dog or puppy to ago, he couldn’t resist adopting her. the shop. “We’ve always been welcomed,” she says. Sleek at SEMA Toyota takes to Vegas with the quickest C-HR ever, and a series of Camry builds from the top names in NASCAR by Dan Nied Showstopper At 600 horsepower, the C-HR R-Tuned showcased at the Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA) show is the fastest Compact Utility Vehicle on the planet. It’s known as SEMA. That’s short for the Specialty Equipment Market Association show. And in recent years, the annual Vegas party has served as a showcase for Toyota’s most daring and distinguished project cars.