F&I and Showroom, March 2018

www fi magazine com 12 F I and Showroom March 2018 O On the surface Steve Ewing appears to have it made In the business since 1982 and a dealer since 1989 Ewing owns and operates Wade Ford of Smyrna Ga just north of Atlanta as well as a sizeable fleet facility and Motor Trend Certified Delivered by Wade Ford a used car superstore that sits across the street from the main showroom But Ewing is restless He takes nothing for granted The Motor Trend store is the product of a program that includes certification as well as a six month 7500 mile warranty In fact he betatested the program several years ago He says he was willing to experiment because he realized the importance of maximizing used vehicle profits and he anticipated improved service retention The opportunity to pilot Motor Trend Certified was made possible by Ewings relationship with Atlanta based EasyCare He had connected with the company upon his arrival in Smyrna when he was looking for ways to improve Wade Fords numbers across the board while settling in as owner and president We formed a relationship early on and because of the proximity of EasyCare and Wade Ford I suggested we start a laboratory here where we could try different products and services and see how they work Ewing says The partners latest experiment is a customer and dealerfacing mobile app suite Ewing sees it as an opportunity to get in on the connected vehicle craze while improving the sales experience and giving the F I department a compelling new offering FROM JERSEY TO GEORGIA A New Jersey native Ewing 58 began his automotive career in 1982 at Apple Chevrolet in Fair Lawn He was immediately hooked and quickly advanced from salesperson to sales manager and then general manager He made known his intentions to make a career of auto retail and thanks to Fords dealer development program he had the opportunity to purchase Crossroads Ford located 16 miles south in East Orange N J in 1989 It was an inner city dealership the economy wasnt great and it didnt work out After three years he sold the point back to Ford took a corporate level job and waited for his next opportunity That was a very difficult market The number of customers who qualified for retail financing was limited Ewing says When I went to Pennsylvania it was a completely different mindset Champion Fordland opened in Scranton Pa in 1993 Bolstered by a healthy market of blue collar union workers Ewing was able to pay off Fords interest in the store within four years In 1998 he opened Champion Nissan in Scranton A year later he added Champion Lincoln Mercury in Hazleton an hour south In 2002 the opportunity to purchase Steve Ewing loves the car business and he is willing to try any new program tool or process that will help Atlantas Wade Ford keep pace with the changing demands of car buyers BY TARIQ KAMAL DEALER PROFILE STEVE EWING PHOTOS BY JOHN CRABTREE EASYCARE THE LABORATORY Wade Ford Tests Connected Cars Wade Ford of Smyrna Ga is one of the Atlanta areas largest dealerships Owner Steve Ewing has been willing to experiment with new processes and technology to keep pace with evolving customer needs