New Member

[Rennsport Calgary]

I heard about this board from F-chat where I am a frequent poster.

I guess a post with a little bit about myself as an introduction is appropriate.......so here yah go......I'm a 45 year old car nut.......starting flogging chariots back in 1989 for the local BMW dealer and became salesman of the year in my first season.

In 1992 I lucked out and got the job as the sales manager of South Centre Fine Cars (they are still the Porsche dealer here in Calgary) and worked there for three years.

Spent the next decade selling MB's and used Porsches as the Porsche/VW store went into a soft receivership and was sold......I figured an offer from the MB store beats not knowing if your job at Porsche is going to be around....let alone as lucrative under new owners...etc...etc.....

Went iton business for myself with a client's backing and am in my second year now......working 8 days a week and 25 hours a day....heh.....but never been happier. I've got a $1MM line to operate with so I am not a big dealer......but specializing in Porsches you don't have to be as I only sell 100 cars a year.

The fun never ends......!!

[mchastek]

Welcome to the forum, Keith! Glad to have you here from Fchat. It sounds like you have an exciting background! If I had to sell cars, I'd love to sell the brands that actually excite me. I went to a Mazda dealership a week ago and felt bad for the salesmen - they didn't even like their own cars - must have been hard to sell them!

Thanks for joining the forum. I look forward to seeing some of your contributions about the dealer market!

-Mark

[David Castiaux]

Hi Folks, let me squeeze on in here so we can close the door if we need to. I'm an electric vehicle instructor in the public school system. I teach all types of electric drive to buisness and industry people and I'm located in Oklahoma City. I enjoy getting everyones opinions and ideas on the auto industry, and I'm constantly researching trying to keep up with the latest. I have a great job and get to travel to many industry shows and conferences. I've seen many ideas and dreams shattered in the auto arena, but that happens in other endeavors also. I feel It's a great time to be involved in this area, and believe we are going to see great changes over the next twenty years.
I often think back to a junior high school assembly were a (GE rep. I believe), demonstrated a rocket engine in our school gym., that was cool...and...loud, but the real shocker was when he cracked an egg on a paper plate, put it in a box and it came out instantly cooked without burning the plate. We were all thunder struck....we thought the world was going mad, but today we have that everyday device in our homes, its called the microwave oven of course! I feel that Hydrogen fuel cells may be the next microwave type demonstration.... the first time I saw electricity made from water it ran chills through me.... dream of the possiblities...in our autos...in our world!!!!! David

[mchastek]

Hi Folks, let me squeeze on in here so we can close the door if we need to. I'm an electric vehicle instructor in the public school system. I teach all types of electric drive to buisness and industry people and I'm located in Oklahoma City. I enjoy getting everyones opinions and ideas on the auto industry, and I'm constantly researching trying to keep up with the latest. I have a great job and get to travel to many industry shows and conferences. I've seen many ideas and dreams shattered in the auto arena, but that happens in other endeavors also. I feel It's a great time to be involved in this area, and believe we are going to see great changes over the next twenty years.
I often think back to a junior high school assembly were a (GE rep. I believe), demonstrated a rocket engine in our school gym., that was cool...and...loud, but the real shocker was when he cracked an egg on a paper plate, put it in a box and it came out instantly cooked without burning the plate. We were all thunder struck....we thought the world was going mad, but today we have that everyday device in our homes, its called the microwave oven of course! I feel that Hydrogen fuel cells may be the next microwave type demonstration.... the first time I saw electricity made from water it ran chills through me.... dream of the possiblities...in our autos...in our world!!!!! David

David - Great insight! I agree 100% - we're in for some big surprises, which I think will be a breath of fresh air for the industry. With gas prices jumping up daily, I think we'll see these changes sooner rather than later. We're living in an exciting time... and I can't wait to see what the future has in store for the auto biz!

Welcome, and thanks for the great introductory post!

-Mark