HISTORY OF TOM WOOD INC.



Mr. Wood’s background in the automotive industry started while he was attending Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo. He was a new car salesman for a Mercury-Edsel dealer. After college he continued to sell full time until he had the opportunity to buy a small Hillman Sunbeam dealership in Kalamazoo. Within two years the manufacturer went out of business and Mr. Wood was forced to change his operation into a wholesale-retail used car lot with a complete body shop making up the major part of the total volume. He continued that operation until moving to Indianapolis in 1967 and purchasing Hedges Pontiac, which was located at 3125 E. Washington Street.

Since that initial acquisition, Tom Wood, Inc. has grown to seventeen franchises and scale leasing operation, out of thirteen locations in four cities—Indianapolis and Anderson in Indiana, Lexington, Kentucky and Richfield, Minnesota.

The current franchises include Pontiac, GMC Truck, Mazda, Acura, Toyota, Nissan, Volkswagen, Subaru, Jaguar, Volvo, Range Rover, Porsche, Audi, Ford, Lexus, Honda and Byrider. In addition to those franchises there is Quality Leasing, Car Now Acceptance Corporation, Tom Wood East and Tom Wood Mortgage.

Mr. Wood’s philosophy is, “Success is not measured by the number of franchises or locations an organization has; it is measured by the people associated with it.”

OUR CUSTOMER RELATIONS PHILOSOPHY

In a business such as ours, service to our customers is a key element in our continued success. Many of our customers have been coming to Tom Wood for years and will continue to do so as long as we provide the high levels of service to which they are accustomed. Our objective is “absolute customer satisfaction.” Every customer should feel as if they “count”. This means attention to detail, prompt handling of inquiries and problems, and unfailing courtesy in all dealings with customers whether in person or over the telephone. In short, treat every customer as you would like to be treated yourself.

OUR EMPLOYEE RELATIONS PHILOSOPHY

We are dedicated to continuing what we believe to be an excellent employee relations program. We will do our best to maintain good working conditions, competitive wages and benefits, open communications and employee involvement.

Over the years, Tom Wood, Inc. has earned a fine reputation in our industry. We know that our reputation is a direct result of the loyalty, commitment and continued efforts of our employees.