At the Miami Auto Show Ford unveiled a new STX Appearance Package that will be available on its 2017 F-Series trucks. Here’s what you need to know it. This new trim line can be had on either the F-150 or the blue oval Super Duty models. It enhances both the interior and exterior of these hard-working rigs. With the former, it is only available on SuperCab and SuperCrew body-styles but you can get it with any configuration of Super Duty.
Positioned between the base XL and mid-range XLT models, the STX Appearance Package offers plenty of popular upgrades. On the F-150 it comes with 20-inch aluminum wheels, a black, billet-style grille with painted surround, body-color front fascia and bumpers, unique decals, fog lamps and the company Sync 3 infotainment system with an eight-inch touch-screen, which supports Apple CarPlay as well as Android Auto. The STX Appearance Package is available with the 2.7- and 3.5-liter EcoBoost V6 engines as well as the 5.0-liter V8.
As for the big, honkin Super Duty trucks, they get many of the same enhancements as their smaller breather. In addition to these goodies, they are dressed up with chrome grilles and bumpers, STX fender badges, special aluminum wheels and more. Against the odds, pricing information is available right now. An F-150 equipped with this upgrade package can be yours for around $36,000; an F-250 variant starts around 35 grand, the F-350 around 36 big ones. You should be able order this new Ford STX Appearance Package from dealerships right now.
At Greg May Honda in Waco, Texas, and Greg May Chevrolet in West, Texas, everybody looks forward to the visit from the hockey coach. Once a month, Scott Muscutt, a former minor-league hockey bench boss who found a second career as a motivational speaker, spends a day at each store, meeting with managers individually, then addressing staffers in a group. The high-energy talks deliver a different message each month. It may be about leading by example, or the role of trust in teamwork. In August, when management laid out a goal to set a sales record, the main point was perseverance -- staying upbeat and on task, even when things go wrong. What's the same every month is that the Greg May team members walk out of the room full of confidence, determination, team spirit and focus.
I just love these sessions. Everyone does," said Rose Mary Hunter, comptroller for the two stores. "They bring us all together and remind us we're all working toward the same thing. We all have important roles, and we can reach this goal together. The Greg May dealerships exemplify a common feature of the stores on this year's list of the 100 Best Dealerships To Work For: great employee communication. Whether it's about keeping everyone informed, celebrating successes, correcting mistakes or just getting to know one another as people, clear and open communication is a must. In the 100 Best Dealerships To Work For, it occurs in many different forms. Chuck Gile, owner of Motorcars Toyota and Motorcars Honda in Cleveland Heights, Ohio, posts "Word of the Day" video messages, highlighting dealership news and hailing good deeds, punctuated by a couple of toots on his kazoo.
One "Word of the Day" clip highlighted a technician in the Toyota store, Jon Biggom, as "hero of the day." A customer's delivery of a used Camry was held up because a radio component to be installed hadn't arrived. Biggom overheard a discussion about the matter, and promptly pulled the part out of his own Camry to get the customer on her way. The technician has been at Motorcars for 10 years and said he has no desire to work anywhere else. "It's like family," he said. "I plan on staying here as long as I can." Planet Subaru in Hanover, Mass., celebrates the achievement of key goals or performance records with a group dinner for employees and their spouses, usually about 25 people in all, at one of the chic restaurants on Boston's South Shore. These days, the way Subaru's sales are climbing, the dinners are occurring about once every three months.
Sometimes the dinners cost as much as $5,000, says owner Jeff Morrill. But he says the nights out are important to communicate to employees the kind of corporate culture he and his brother are trying to develop. We promote ourselves as the undealership," Morrill said. "We do things differently than the typical dealership." The pricey dinners are meant to show the store's staffers they are highly valued, and express appreciation to their spouses and significant others for those times when managers and employees come home late. And they serve as examples of how the Planet Subaru team should treat customers.