Dodge Charger—Eight Speeds to Go! – The Official Blog of DodgeThe Official Blog of Dodge.

Craig Coady Received Stew Hansen Dodge Ram Chrysler Jeep’s 2012 Driver of Excellence Award from General Manager Dan Boettcher

Congratulations to Craig Coady! Craig’s commitment to excellent customer service has earned him our 2012 Driver of Excellence Award!

After many years in sales with Stew Hansen’s, Craig left the dealership to pursue a new opportunity.  He returned to us last year as a valued member of our service department team as a courtesy shuttle driver.  We are very fortunate to have Craig as an ambassador of the dealership and through his many years of service he is well known and liked by the customers and employees alike.

Stew Hansen Sales Managers Jerry Bill, Greg Miller, and Merle Burkle received Certified Dealer of the Year Award from Chrysler Group, LLC,

Stew Hansen Dodge Ram Chrysler Jeep had the honor of receiving the distinction of the largest retail dealer of Chrysler Certified Pre-Owned Vehicles in the United States.

To qualify for this award, Stew Hansen’s sold more factory certified vehicles than any other dealer in the country.  It is the third time that the award has been given to the dealership.

Vehicles that are sold as Chrysler Certified Pre-Owned vehicles have to undergo a rigorous 125 point inspection process including a thorough history check and be re-conditioned to like new status before being eligible for the program.

At Stew Hansen Dodge Ram Chrysler Jeep, we are dedicated to the Chrysler Certified program and feel that this program allows to us maintain the highest levels of trust with our customers that the pre-owned vehicle they are purchasing will provide them a worry free purchase experience.  We are honored to receive this award and thank all of our loyal customers who made it possible.

Mercedes, Lexus, Dodge, Chrysler and Jeep are Top Leaders with Women Buyers

PITTSBURGH, PA- Women-Drivers.com has released its 2012 report showing the top car brands as rated by women. Each year, Women‐Drivers.com tracks thousands of consumer reviews with regards to women’s purchasing and browsing experiences at new car dealerships. These scores are compiled from thousands of reviews written in the 2012 calendar year. On the site, dealerships’ scores range from 5.0 (the highest) to 1.0 (the lowest). Dealers with a Women Satisfaction Index or WSI® scores between 3.8 – 5.0 are recognized and marketed as CERTIFIED Women‐Drivers Friendly™.

Women now account for over half of all car purchases; however, they influence and initiate an estimated 80% of them. One of the reasons the company captures the ‘browsing’ is that on average women visit three (3) dealerships when in the market for a new vehicle; the higher a dealership’s browsing score is a critical indication that consumers were treated well and will return to this dealership to buy.

“When a woman walks into a dealership that treats her with respect and engages her during the buying process, the dealership is out to gain a purchase from that customer,” said Anne Fleming, the company’s president, and Car Buying Advocate. “It’s pretty simple, respect + customer engagement = sale and potential future purchases. And clearly, these dealerships get that.” The company notes a positive correlation between the WSI® and CSI. Higher ranking WSI scores at many dealers have impacted those same stores’ CSI scores.”

The Top 15 Brands for PURCHASING experiences at dealerships:
Mercedes dealers received the highest WSI® ranking among women buyers with an almost perfect 4.90 score in the purchase category. Lexus followed second, with the rest of the top five going to Chrysler’s brands – quite a testimony to this family of brands, and how well the in-store buying experience is for their women shoppers.

1. Mercedes: 4.90

2. Lexus: 4.83

3. Dodge: 4.78

4. Chrysler: 4.76

5. Jeep: 4.75

6. Lincoln: 4.72

7. Acura: 4.55

8. Chevrolet: 4.51

9. Buick: 4.48

10. Honda: 4.39

11. GMC: 4.38

12. Toyota and Mazda: 4.36

13. Cadillac: 4.35

14. Ford and KIA: 4.33

15. Hyundai: 4.23

The Top 15 Brands for BROWSING experiences at dealerships:

Mercedes dealers scored the highest WSI® ranking pulling in a 4.50 score from browsers ‐‐ women customers who went to a dealership but did not purchase that day. The average WSI® score for all brands in this category was 4.01. These top brands ranked consistently high with women customers who were very satisfied with the engagement and treatment by the sales person and their overall dealership experience. The higher a dealership’s browsing score, the higher the probability that women will return there to purchase.

1. Mercedes: 4.59

2. Jeep: 4.53

3. Mazda: 4.38

4. Chevrolet: 4.24

5. Lexus: 4.10

6. Chrysler: 4.07

7. GMC: 4.02

8. Hyundai: 3.99

9. Acura and Ford: 3.97

10. Dodge: 3.92

12. Volkswagen: 3.67

13. Audi: 3.44

14. Buick & Cadillac: 3.37

15. Toyota: 3.26

* Some brands are not represented in this report because they were no longer being marketed in 2012, or, due to lack of statistically significant data.

Just when the anticipation was almost too intense to handle, Dodge presented its newest models to the public at the LA Auto Show. The 2013 Charger Daytona was the star of the show as a modern day muscle car with its never-before-seen color, Daytona Blue, and a HEMI® V-8 engine with 370hp that’s sure to rev your senses. But you won’t be seeing many of these iconic Daytonas tearing up the streets. There will only be 2,500 produced in this limited-edition run.

Read more….

 2012 LA Auto Show Recap – The Official Blog of Dodge.

Over the past few years, Zion Lutheran Church in Des Moines, IA has developed partnerships with local ministries, churches, businesses, and schools to help meet the needs of the refugee children streaming into their Des Moines neighborhood.  In addition, to providing meals, tutoring, transportation, and many other needed services to the kids participating in their STAR (Serve-Teach-Advocate-Reach) program, they set out to make this a meaningful Christmas for each of the 400+ children in the program by providing needed and desired gifts.

Stew Hansen Dodge Chrysler Jeep Ram Collision Center employee Danny Davis along with Brand Manager Aubry Baldwin set out to share the stories of the children with the employees of Stew Hansen Dodge and with those of Stew Hansen’s sister Ken Garff Automotive Group dealerships Stew Hansen Hyundai, Dewey Ford, Dewey Dodge Chrysler Jeep Ram, and Southtown Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram.

The employees and dealerships responded in a big way by sponsoring 150 Zion kids and purchasing gifts for each one.  In addition, a truckload of much needed clothing items were also donated for the kids.   The dealerships themselves also participated providing monetary donations and services. We would also like to thank Walgreens for graciously donating wrapping paper for the gifts and gift cards.

With the help of our our great employees, this will be a Christmas to remember for 150 children in need in our community.

We invite anyone who would like to help in providing for the STAR children to contact Zion Evangelical Lutheran Church, 4300 Beaver Ave, Des Moines, IA 50310, 515.270.8142, www.ziondsm.org.

Donated Toys and Clothes Ready For Wrapping and Delivery

On Monday November 12th, Stew Hansen’s dedicated our Wall of Honor to pay tribute to all Veterans of the U.S. Armed Forces.

Veterans Day originated as “Armistice Day” on Nov. 11, 1919, the first anniversary of the end of World War I.   Veterans Day pays tribute to all American veterans–living or dead–but especially gives thanks to living veterans who served their country honorably during war or peacetime.

In 1987, Mr. Stew Hansen dedicated the raising of our 120 foot tall flag pole to carry the 30×60 foot flag to “Honor All US Veterans” and dedicated to the Veterans of Vietnam and now we dedicate this Wall of Honor to further show our appreciation to America’s Veterans.

Special Mention of Our Stew Hansen Staff Members are:

Stew Hansen, Colin Menard, Greg Warthan, John Clark, Carroll McDorman, Brian Stevens, Shad Clayton, Loren Christensen, Bruce Draper, Mitch Martin, Jerry Kingery, Vance Ocheltree, Hank Ditolla, Chuck Frazier, John Duff, Austin Barnes,Tom Essy, Mick Omun, Dave Wurster, Joe Carr. And thank you to Don Tharpe (Navy)  for inspiring us to complete this wall.

Recently,  at Stew Hansen’s we had the opportunity to thank our employees for everything they do with a big tailgate party BBQ.  We transformed the showroom and part of the lot and had a grand feast of barbeque pork and brisket from Jethro’s BBQ.  In addition, fun was had by all with a photo booth where the employees used the wigs and props to create some crazy photos.  Outside a dunk tank was set up to give the employees a chance to show their pitching skills and dunk a co-worker into some icy cold water.

Every day our employees work to make our committment to deliver a superior experience to our customer.  We call it “Driving the Experience” and it all begins with our employees listening to our customers and making  sure  ”We Hear You”.  We believe we have the very best employees in the auto industry and we thank you all for everything you do!