Jeff Wyler

[wylerracing.com] . From its beginning in 1973 with 12 employees [Jeff Wyler: Clermont County's Entrepreneurial Spirit, 2nd paragraph] and 180 car sales, it has grown to employing almost 1000 people and retailing in excess of 20,000 new and used vehicles annually.

History

Mr. Wyler, although born in Cincinnati, left at age six to follow his mother and step-father, a General Motors executive, around the country. Stops included Sidney, Bellefontaine, and Urbana, Ohio, prior to moving to Phoenix, Arizona, Albuquerque, New Mexico, and finally graduating high school in El Paso, Texas [google.com] .

After a brief stint in the US Army he enrolled in college at Ohio State University, followed by a year at Northeastern Junior College in Sterling, Colorado, and three years at the University of Cincinnati where he graduated in 1965 with a degree in Finance.

Immediately upon graduation, he began working for the Chevrolet Division of General Motors as a sales trainee advancing to District Sales Manager and Truck Sales Engineer. In 1972 he elected to leave the security of a large corporation to begin his retailing career. First, as a general manager for a Chevrolet dealership in Newark, Ohio, then on to Batavia, Ohio, where at age 30 he opened his first Chevrolet dealership simultaneous with the first fuel shortage to hit the United States in 1973. With 6 service bays, 20 parking spaces, and a large inventory of new vehicles that only got 9 miles per gallon, Mr. Wyler sold 180 cars his first year ["Innovation Puts Wyler Ahead of Pack", Cincinnati Business Courier, Feb 16th, 1998"] .

In the mid 1970s, Wyler was not allowed to advertise in Cincinnati newspapers because his dealership was not located in Hamilton County, Ohio. Facing this challenge, he placed the majority of his marketing budget in television (a medium that was then relatively untried for auto dealers). With catchy slogans like "Cars, like eggs, are cheaper in the country" - Wyler soon built a brand image that remains strong to this day ["Innovation Puts Wyler Ahead of Pack", Cincinnati Business Courier, Feb 16th, 1998"] .

Innovation

His decision to locate his dealership on the outskirts of Cincinnati was part economics and foresight. Building in the city of Cincinnati would have been too expensive, and locating his dealership where the new beltway interstate was being built, gave him significant growth opportunity.

Anticipating changes in the automotive industry, Mr. Wyler acquired imported cars franchises during the early 80's. He then consolidated his east-side dealerships into an "automall", an innovative concept where multiple franchises (domestic and import) and a used car lot were located at one strip. This unique approach was considered ahead of the curve for the automotive sales industry, where Mr. Wyler de-emphasized the car brand, and emphasized the selling aura of "convenience and price" ["Innovation Puts Wyler Ahead of Pack", Cincinnati Business Courier, Feb 16th, 1998"] .

Today

Mr. Wyler has always taken an active role in serving his community by serving as President of Batavia Rotary, Clermont Chamber of Commerce, Clermont YMCA, the first United Way of Clermont County Campaign Chair, Chairman of UCATS, Vice Chair University of Cincinnati Foundation, and recently the Chairman of the Health Alliance of Cincinnati ["Innovation Puts Wyler Ahead of Pack", Cincinnati Business Courier, Feb 16th, 1998"] .

In June of 2006, he was elected Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the University of Cincinnati. He recently became a minority owner of the Cincinnati Reds, where he worked as a college student selling tickets to pay for his education [google.com] .

External links

Official Website: http://wyler.comWyler Racing: http://www.wylerracing.com

References

(1) http://washington.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/stories/1998/02/16/story2.html?q=jeff%20wyler%20business%20courier(2) http://www.clermontcountyohio.biz/news061506.aspx#jeff(3) http://65.213.146.1/cincinnati/stories/2007/12/03/tidbits1.html?jst=s_cn_hl(4) http://www.google.com

References