FORD MOTOR SALUTES DEALERS AT NADA SHOW

Back row: Michael Chapman, Randy Chapman, Giles, Ford, Rusnak, Razzari, Schindler. Front row: Ciccolo, Fritts, Elder, Wintrode.

February 3, 2007—Ford Motor Co. yesterday honored nine of its dealers with the seventh annual Salute To Dealers award for showing their commitment to their communities through such efforts as literacy programs, antidrug campaigns, animal rescue, and health-care support. “These dealers’ efforts to improve the lives of those in their communities are inspiring,” said company board member Edsel B. Ford II, who runs the program.  “They give of their time and money to hundreds of causes and set an example for others to do the same.”

This year’s judges were: Edsel Ford; Sue Cischke, Ford vice president, Environmental and Safety Engineering; Steve Finlay, editor, Ward’s Dealer Business; David Sedgwick, editor, Automotive News; and Marc Stertz, executive director, NADA Publications, and publisher, AutoExec Magazine. "Retail auto dealers are the most giving business people anywhere," said Stertz. "Choosing the winners from among the sterling group of nominees was no easy task."

Any dealer principal representing a Ford brand—Ford Division, Lincoln, Mercury, Jaguar, Volvo, Mazda, Land Rover or Aston Martin—is eligible for the award. This year, Ford Motor nominated 71 dealers from 26 states and two countries.  This year’s honorees are: Randy and Michael Chapman, Chapman Auto Group, Philadelphia; Raymond J. Ciccolo, Boston Volvo Village, Boston; Irma B. Elder, Elder Automotive Group, Troy, Mich., and Tampa, Fla.; Marie J. Fritts, Fritts Ford, Riverside, Calif.; Marty Giles, Northstar Ford/Lincoln, Fort McMurray, Alberta, Canada; Tim Razzari, Razzari Ford/Mazda, Merced, Calif.; Paul Rusnak, Rusnak Auto Group, Pasadena, Calif.; Bruce Schindler, Bob Davidson Ford, Baltimore;  and David C. Wintrode, Causeway Ford & Mercury, Manahawkin, N.J.