Jul
31
Bucking the trend
Zeigler Automotive adds new dealership in Downers Grove.
Greg Bedalov, EDC President, chalks up another win for DG, announcing today that the Harold Zeigler Automotive Group, founded in 1975 and listed as one of the top automotive groups in the country by Ward’s Dealer Business, will be opening a brand new Chrysler Dodge Jeep dealership in Downers Grove, Illinois.
“We’re excited to be putting a new facility in Downers Grove and serve the customers in that area,” said Aaron Zeigler, President of the Zeigler Automotive Group. “With a dealership already established in Schaumburg, the opportunity to add a dealership in the greater Chicago region fit very well with our strategy and we know that Downers Grove and the surrounding communities are a great place to do business.”
The Zeigler Auto Group is one of only a few organizations in the country that was able to increase their sales over the past year. They plan to begin immediately on a development project to build a new state-of-the art dealership at 2311 W Ogden Avenue replacing an old dealership facility where Downers Grove Dodge once operated. They will serve customers in the existing facility until construction is complete next spring. The new dealership, Zeigler Chrysler Dodge Jeep of Downers Grove, will create 75 new jobs within the first year of opening, along with generating hundreds of thousands in sales tax revenue for the city every year.
“My Council colleagues and I are thrilled to welcome the Zeigler Automotive Group to Downers Grove and look forward to a successful partnership in our community,” said Downers Grove Mayor, Ron Sandack. “Having the Zeigler Group select Downers Grove as the location for their next dealership is especially rewarding given these challenging economic times and their new business endeavors serve as a reminder of our community’s strong commitment to business development and growth.”
“Our strategy of growth and our commitment to our customers have never changed, even as the economic environment has evolved over the past year,” commented Zeigler. “Our philosophy is simple:, be fair and take care of the customer and good things will happen. Keeping with this has allowed us to grow in Schaumburg and now will give us the opportunity to serve the customer in Downers Grove.”
There’s no down sides here. Jobs, sales tax revenue, a well financed car sales company that is growing, and a redevelopment of an old dealership site that has remained essentially unchanged since the 70′s. Plans petitions and expected permits for the site redevelopment should be forthcoming in the next few months.
So how come Bill Kay had to close if this guy gets to open right down the street?
I’m thinking (I don’t know for sure) that the criteria for closing dealerships was something that Chrysler and GM probably fought to be able to define, so they could decide who won or lost.
Obviously Bill Kay was a loser, and Aaron Zeigler is a winner.
While also feeling that it seems ridiculous to open a new Chrysler dealership after all the recent closures, I am somewhat relieved that my year-old Chrysler will have a closer dealership for warranty work than Wheaton.
However, I may still take it to Bill Kay for non-warranty work, just from spite.
Kudos for all involved, DG has enough of an owner base to warrant a store with good ownership and customer ratings.