Group 1 April 2016 Newsletter

April 2016 1nspiration &
1nformation for
Group 1 People

Peop e News

In this issue:  Charitable
Donations
 Welcome from Earl
 F&I & Sales Update  Service Advisor
 U.K. Update University
 Astros Visit
 Major New  Dealership
Upgrades
Assignments
 Top Performers  2016 eTime
 Recruiting Rollout

 Work
Anniversaries

 Benefits

Peop e News

Welcome to
GROUP 1 AUTOMOTIVE
Group People

News

A Letter from Earl Hesterberg,
President and Chief Executive Officer

During our recent General Manager Leadership Our goal is to be above the manufacturer average in
Meeting in Houston, it was great to see the progress EVERY ONE of our dealerships. This takes teamwork
and synergies taking place in our dealership throughout the dealership and we hope that you
operations in the US, UK, and Brazil. The theme of make a personal commitment to do your part.
our meeting was Operational Excellence and we
discussed many areas that are important to help us Another important aspect of the success of
achieve this goal. Group1 is the satisfaction of our 12,000
plus employees. We want to foster greater
While some things in each of these markets are employee loyalty, improve employee engagement,
bound to be different, based on culture, government and reduce employee turnover. You will be seeing
regulations, and so on, there are also many aspects of programs in the coming months designed to help us
our operations that are very similar. accomplish these goals. We will be spending more
on employee training in order to help you stay at the
Most important of these are our responsibilities to top of your game and to provide a better experience
offer outstanding customer service to all of our for our customers.
customers in all of our dealerships. It doesn’t matter
if the customer is buying a Ford truck in Houston, a The best years are definitely ahead of us at Group1
BMW in the UK, or a Honda in Brazil….each of these and we want you to be a strong advocate for our
customers deserves a professional and pleasant company. People are the strength of our company
experience when dealing with any aspect of our and the single factor which differentiates us most
dealerships. from the competition.

One way of measuring this involves the Customer When we work together we can take our
Satisfaction Scores that each manufacturer provides performance to a higher level and move toward our
monthly to our dealerships. objective of Operational Excellence.

Earl

Peop e News

F&I Update

John Vrbanac, Financial Services Manager

FINANCE & INSURANCE How does Group 1 lead the industry in F&I? Our F&I departments have immediate access to

Group 1 Automotive has consistently been one of numerous lenders with whom Group 1 has great
the top performing public companies in F&I Per relationships. Due to the volume we as a group are
Retail Unit over the past few years. While results able to offer a lender, we often are given rates lower
have not yet been announced for the first quarter of than a customer could get walking into their own bank
2016, we expect to continue to be the industry or credit union. Just like buying bulk at Costco, we are
leaders. We have maintained our leadership then able to pass these savings on to our customers.
through a belief in the Group 1 Core Values, training As a result, over 70% of Group 1 customers choose to
and support led by our Regional Finance Directors do their financing via our Finance Office.

(RFID’s), partnership with our preferred lenders, and What are the F&I products Group 1 sells?

providing value to our customers on every deal.  Vehicle Service Contract- extends the coverage of a
In the 4th quarter of 2015, F&I accounted for 4% of vehicle’s factory warranty.

Group 1’s total revenue, and 27% of our total gross  GAP Waiver- protects the customer from a

profit. Our U.S. Stores averaged $1,525 Per Retail financial loss when a vehicle is totaled and they

Unit. owe more than it is worth.

One of the ways Group 1 leads the industry in F&I is  Prepaid Maintenance- Up-front payment for oil
changes, tire rotations, and other services required
through our extensive compliance program. As the per the owner’s manual.
DentZone- Removes small dents and dings from a
first group to adopt the NADA Fair Credit Compliance vehicle’s exterior.
Plan in 2014, we have a program in place to ensure  Resist-All- Protects the interior from stains, spills,
rips and tears, and protects the exterior finish from
all customers are treated fairly in the finance office. acid rain, bird droppings and other environmental
Our relationship with the audit team, as well as deal  hazards.
Road Hazard- Repairs and replaces a vehicle’s tires
audits done by the General Managers and RFID’s and wheels when they are damaged by hazards
such as potholes and nails.
help to ensure that our finance departments conduct

their business legally, ethically, and in line with the

Group 1 core values. 

How does F&I benefit our customers?

Often you’ll hear friends and family advise that you  Skylink- GPS Based vehicle tracking to aid in theft

should never finance a vehicle through a dealership;

that the finance office exists only to make money off

of customers. While it is true that F&I is a profit

center for our dealerships, the F&I office exists as a

benefit to our customers, offering to arrange

financing for them, as well as providing products to

help protect their new vehicle, retain its resale value,

and help them enjoy their purchase long-term.

Group 1 only offers F&I products that we feel truly

benefit our consumers, provided by vendors with

proven industry records and backed by leading

insurance companies.

GROUP 1 SALESPeop e News

Sales Update

Troy Ward, General Manager at IRA
Toyota and Scion of Manchester

Teamwork makes the Dream work at Ira Toyota of
Manchester! Ira Toyota of Manchester has started
where they left off last year by achieving #1 in the East
Region in Net Gross Profit through the first quarter of
2016, highlighted by a record $702,000.00 Net Gross
Profit month in March. General Manager, Troy Ward,
attributes this success to the TEAMWORK the store
displays everyday. “We have no disconnect between
sales, service and parts – we’re a family”.

One thing that builds teamwork between departments
is the dealership lunch every Saturday. “We eat
together as a family,” says Troy Ward, “whether it’s a
cookout in front of the dealership or sandwich platters
in the winter, every week the family breaks bread and
interacts”.

The store also has TEAM contests each month that
includes every employee. GM Ward told us “the last
time I checked, every person contributes to every goal
achieved by the dealership, so why not include every
employee? ” In March the TEAM hit their objective and
the entire dealership enjoyed over $1,000 in Chinese
food, and there was plenty left over.

“This is the best TEAM I’ve ever been
associated with, including championship
sports teams and my military
experience. Every member of our store
is part of my family,” says Ward. The
store has hit budget 26 months in a row.
Let’s see what they can do for the rest
of 2016, I wouldn’t bet against them!

Peop e News

Group 1 acquires large Automotive
Group in the UK: Spire Automotive Group

U.K. UPDATE Q. What was the deciding factor in purchasing Spire Q. What are some of the advantages that Group 1
Automotive? brings to the individual dealerships that it
A. Spire Automotive is our largest acquisition in the acquires?
UK to date. They are well run and profitable A. The benefits are better funding in terms of vehicle
businesses with a good mix of brand representation and capital funding enabling them to grow and
and are all based in the South East which is our expand the company footprint. As we grow, we are
preferred location for expansion. We have not only gaining more lucrative deals on contracts such as
purchased some great dealerships, but we have also purchasing energy, oil, consumables, etc.
gained some great employees and practices to add to
our Group. Q. What are the future acquisition plans for Group 1?
A. The company is keen to continue expansion in the
Q. Following this acquisition, what is the scale of UK. We have funding lines in place to act when the
Group 1 Operations in the UK in terms of size within right investments come to the market. We will
the UK market, unit volumes and employees? expand when the right opportunities arise.
A. In the latest addition of Automotive Management,
Group 1 is the 13th largest group in the UK and Spire Spire Automotive is a
is the 33rd largest. For 2016, this means we will sell multi-franchise Group with
approximately 50,000 new and used vehicles and locations across North
have around 2,250 employees. London, Hertfordshire, and
Essex.

AROUND THE GROUPPeop e News

Dallas Keuchel, from the Houston Astros, visits
Mercedes Benz of Clearlake in April

Dallas Keuchel was named the starting pitcher
for the American League in the 2015 Major
League Baseball All-Star Game. He won the Cy
Young Award, which is given annually to the
best pitchers in Major League Baseball. We
sincerely thank Dallas for his support, and we
know he will love his new Mercedes!

A
S
T
R
O
S

Dallas with the Service Department at Mercedes Benz of Clearlake

Peop e News

Major New Assignments

LEADERSHIP TEAM Daryl Kenningham, David Fesmire David Fesmire
previously Regional was promoted to the
Vice President of the East Regional Vice
East Region, is now President position.
the West David has worked in
Regional Vice both the East and
President. West Regions as a
Market Director and
Daryl Kenningham General Manager.

Frank Grese Kerry Laws Brooks O’Hara

Frank Grese has been promoted to the Senior Vice President of Human Resources,
Training, & Operations Support, and Kerry Laws has been promoted to Associate
Vice President of Human Resources. We are very happy to have them both on board
in Houston, but are sad to see our previous Vice President of Human Resources,
Brooks O’Hara, retire. Brooks has worked for Group 1 Automotive for nearly two
decades and we greatly appreciate his service and all he has done for the company.
Congratulations on your retirement Brooks!

Congrats to all and we look forward to the future with this
leadership team that is constantly evolving!

TOP PERFORMERSPeop e News

Top Performing Stores

VW Kearny Mesa Wins
Wolfsburg Crest Award

The Wolfsburg Crest honors dealerships for
excellence in customer service, new vehicle sales,
certified pre-owned vehicle sales and adherence
to Volkswagen operating standards. To celebrate,
VW of Kearny Mesa had a luncheon for the entire
staff. Congratulations to everyone at Volkswagen
Kearny Mesa for winning this prestigious award!

Group 1 is proud to Congratulations to Elite Acura
acknowledge the for the Acura 2015

2015 Chairman Winners: Dealership of Distinction Award

 Luxury: Sterling McCall Lexus
 Import: Fort Bend Toyota
 Domestic: Shamaley Ford

Peop e News

Group 1 is Growing!

We are launching a major new recruiting effort to build on our constantly
growing parts, service, and collision business. You’ll see our new presence
on LinkedIn, Indeed, CareerBuilder, and Craigslist AND we will have new
recruiters to follow through on our prospective employees.
GROUP 1 RECRUITING
DON’T FORGET ABOUT OUR EMPLOYEE REFERRAL BONUS PROGRAM!

Qualified Technicians and $800
Service Advisors $500
$300
Experienced Sales and
F&I Professionals
All other positions

Rules:

1. Fill out the Employee Referral Program form and give it to the applicant

2. The applicant must have the form attached to his/her application at the
time the application is submitted to the company

3. If the applicant is hired, the form will be signed by the hiring manager
and forwarded to Human Resources for coordination of payment

4. The employee must work 90 days before you receive payment

5. Any applicants who have already applied previously or who have
previously worked for Group 1 within the last 12 months will not count
as referrals

PEOPLE UPDATEPeop e News

Charitable Donations

Rivertown Subaru donates to
the Youth Orchestra of
Greater Columbus

Rivertown Subaru was able to donate over
$4,000. Thank you for this great
contribution!

IRA Toyota of Danvers holds a
successful Blood Drive

“A single pint can save 3 lives , A single
gesture can create a million smiles”
Thank you to all of our Ira Toyota Family -
Customers, Employees & Friends- who came
out to support today’s blood drive. It was a
wonderful day of smiles and giving back!

Rivertown Subaru gives back at Rockwall Ford rallies donations for

Subaru’s Share The Love event families affected by the storm

As part of Subaru's Share The Love event, we Donations for the Rowlett and Garland families
proudly helped deliver meals to Meals on affected by the storm in December were collected.
Wheels and presented a check in the amount This is only the first load and there will be more to
of $2,376 to the Lower Chattahoochee Direct come. Thanks to all our great customers and
Services. Thank you to everyone who made employees for making this happen!
this happen!

Peop e News

CUSTOMER SERVICE Group 1 announces
Service Advisor University

PART 1: SAU ON-LINE Our 1st Group 1 Service Advisor University class
will be held April 12th-14th. We look forward to
The first step in the program will be a SAU On-Line this class as well as the upcoming classes. Take
training component, covering the service process advantage of this wonderful opportunity!
and technique f or successful customer service. It
will also include selling key services. To enroll for future classes, please have your
Service Manager email the following to
PART 2: SAU LIVE Tim Marvel. Enrollment will be on a first come first
serve basis.
The second component of training will be a visit to
Houston for a intensive 2 1/2 day training session.  Advisor’s Name
Advisors will spend time with our Service
Department Center, work with our vendor/partners  Start Date
using their systems, practice selling techniques, and
demonstrate their knowledge and competency role  Employee Number
playing with our training staff.

Going the extra mile for our customers...

“Sterling McCall Toyota made “I want to compliment DFW
me like dealerships again. Audi for the outstanding sales
Clean showroom & lot, experience I received while
professional & friendly staff, purchasing my 2015 Audi A3
great waiting areas, huge Cabriolet. I traveled 200 miles
inventory, just nice, nice, nice. to purchase the car I wanted. I
They made my dream of would do it again and
being a first time buyer come recommend anyone wanting a
true! I can't thank them five star experience and best
enough. I'd highly price, to visit DFW Audi.“

recommend this dealership

to anyone!”

Peop e News

Miller Toyota of Anaheim Grand
Re-Opening Event!

AROUND THE GROUP After months of construction and working out of Guard and The Oxford Academy of Music. A good
trailers, Miller Toyota of Anaheim had their Grand time was had by all and our customers and
Re-opening Event. General Manager Frank Murphy employees are absolutely loving our new facility!”
proudly added:

“The support we got from the community and the
City of Anaheim was truly amazing. We had more
than 300 attend including the Mayor and City Council
of Anaheim, officials and representatives from State
and Federal offices, Bob Carter and Alec Hagey from
Toyota Motor Sales and lots of our loyal customers
and supporters. Entertainment was provided by the
Cal State Fullerton Dance Team, El Dorado Color

The New Boardwalk BMW of Stratham
Honda – Coming Soon! Remodeling!

Our remodeling efforts are nearing completion! This BMW i8 takes a closer look at BMW of
Thanks to our customers and friends for their Stratham's remodeling!
continued patronage during our remodel.

Peop e News

NEW eTime Time Clock Rollout

ADP eTime, from
Brenda Bowers, Payroll Director

COMING SOON As many of you are aware, Group 1 is rolling out a ‘on board’ with the project from the beginning and
new timeclock. We will be using the latest ADP are experiencing some of the benefits of the new
Employer Services version of e-Time as our new system. They were instrumental in helping us train
timekeeping system. This is a very robust system the managers and employees in the new timeclock
that will allow for many enhancements to our and provided valuable feedback that should help
current timekeeping system that will assist your dealership have a smoother roll-out. I would
employees and managers in many ways by providing like to give special recognition to Ashley Goodland
automatic, electronic applications that we have not and Stephanie Martinez, the HR team who assisted
had available to us until now. Posters will be sent to in enrolling all of the 500+ employees, as well as
each location the month prior to your dealership’s Mike Chan, Director of the CDC, and Anthony Kahl,
scheduled roll-out of e-Time. One of Group 1’s core Accounting Manager, for all of the valuable ‘tools’
values, ‘Teamwork’, was definitely in play when we they provided to assist with this project going
rolled out our first pilot group, the Business Support forward.
Center, in March 2016. The managers here were

Features included with Additional features for
the new model: managers:

 Easy & accessible biometric (finger)  Reduced costs & Labor Law Compliance due to
verification accurate time reporting

 Improved accuracy & reliability  Quickly see & monitor employees who are in an
overtime status
 Ability to schedule employees’ work shifts
 Pull time clock hours reports from system for
 Ability for both employees & managers to see analytics as needed
and correct missed punches
 Ability to easily see & manage schedules prior to
 Up-to-date Paid Leave balances will be added approving time off requests
to eTIME to verify balances & request time off

 Exempt employees will be able to request &
record leave through eTIME to track paid
leave

Peop e News

January - March Group 1 Work Anniversaries

25+ years  Peter 15+ years  George Maria
Delongchamps  Antonio Lopez
Scott Brown
 Joyce Garcia  Isiah Johnson  Paul Sitomer  Charles Brewer  Elizabeth  Steven Amaral
 Linda Reese  Kathy Kidik  Gene Guerin  Daniel Breger Nowlin 
 Edward Chris  Timothy Terpstra Alfonso
 Roger Hudson Gutierrez
Stacey Day
 Ronald Solt  Richard Murphy  Sheila Stokke  Ahmad Khraibi  Dominga Trevino
Jeanne Carter
 Gary Gray  Eugenio Mendez  Robert Boehlert II  Robert Noel  Kenneth Cavan Billy Poland
Joanne Shannon  Gunter Frankel Anita Walters
 Mark Reble  Raymond Landry  Joe Alvarez  Terry Davis  Thomas Gafford  Tommy Tran
Darren Thomas  Robert Latiano   David Miranda
 Will Young Jr.  Jesus Castaneda-  Harold Young  Elizardo Garcia   Daniel Wid
 Emigdio Rodriguez Sandra Beudro
 Michael Morrison Ramirez Garland O’Dell
Elena Garcia
 Cheryl Andrews 
Christopher
 Joecephus Sanks  Tray Wilson  David Hall  Gumercindo  Sweatman
Martinez  Forest Sweet
 Mau Tran  Donald Ellis  Johnny Pittman  David Kwon
Robyn Rinehart
 David Wolf Heidi Kelm  Matthew Penkul 
Raymond  Ricardo Lehr
20+ years  Sorabella  Raymond Perez
 Richard Owens
 Donald Blakely  James Dizon  Tony Austin  Deborah  Charles Kimball  Danon Minner
Reasoner  Jesus Maravilla  Richard Asmus
 Michael Mackey  Michael Sullivan  Robert Smith  Gary Adams Jr. Amir Garek- Jose Suarez
Jerry Bearden  Yaraghi Jeff Williams
James O’Hara
 Harold Witte  Steve Gonzales  Hubert Burell  George Carson  Carlos Lopez
Mitesh Gandhi  Ronee Patton
 Stephen  Olney Pleasant IV  Kelly Holdren  Gaynelle Cantrell  Raymond Rejcek
Callender  Leonardo Contee  Deborah Dommert  Michael Chan
James Childs  Kevin Howard Jose Hernandez 
 Bobby Smith  Jesus Arzabala  Irma Swetnam  Michael
Kenneth Bozarth  Greenfield
 Kenneth Early Timothy Jacob  Joseph Adams 
Patricia Jamie Eckerd
 Gregorio Galarza Walter Campbell  McCutcheon 
 Rafael Hernandez
 William Johnson  Raul Villalta 
 Jesus Rosales  Alberto 
 Kristal Beat  Calderon 

 Michael Lewis Ignacio 
 Rodney Nicholas  Godinez-Uribe
Dennis Ramsey 
 Mark Thomas  Eric Johnson Rexford 
 Ronald Dobbins  Rachel Blevins  Morgan III 
 Marlon Romero
 Mark Mitchell   Lai Ta Saechao 
 Mark McLean  Loucas Theori 
 Gloria Carpenter 
 Bruce Hoppe  Aubrey Allen Ann Park  Carmen 
Bruce Schulman  Tremberth 
 Pable Aguayo Clement Kolodzeij  Holly Kaminga 
Wilfredo Reyes
 Maria Pozo  Lynnwood Ruiz Oai Tran

 Charles Weekley  Charles 
 Jeff Kravet James Johnston Sheppard 
Allen Wanju 
 Brent Williams 
 Chris Sloan
Kimberly McCarley


 Michael Wolf David Denton  George 
Kolacherril 
 Matthew Dowd Cory Pierce
Ronald Hayes 
 Alana Joe Neel 
Chamberland
 Janette Haynes 

 Johnny
Maldonado
 Robert Brunk  Douglas
Sammons  Olman Bonilla  Richard Beers 

 Richard Currier

Peop e News

Your 401(k) & Employee Stock Purchase Plan

BENEFITS Who can enroll in the ESPP and how? Who can enroll in the 401(k) and how?

Full or part-time employees over the age of 18 can Full or part-time employees over the age of 18 can
enroll any time throughout the year at now enroll any time throughout the year after 60
ww.netbenefits.fidelity.com or by calling Fidelity days of service at www.netbenefits.fidelity.com or
Investments toll free at (800) 476-9354. The election by calling
deadlines are the 15th of the month before each Fidelity Investments toll free at (800) 835-5095.
quarter starts. (3/15, 6/15, and 9/15, 12/15). Once you
have enrolled your contribution will How much can I contribute?
continue until you either change or stop it!
You can elect to contribute between 1-50% of your
How much can I contribute? eligible compensation on a pre-tax basis up to a
maximum of $18,000 for 2016. You can also change
You can elect to contribute between 1-10% of your your election % at any time!
eligible compensation on a post-tax basis up to a
maximum of $25,000 for 2016. Group 1 also contributes to your 401(k) with the
company match; you know what that means- FREE
Once the quarter ends, the stock will be purchased Money!
for you at the 15% discount! The discount will be ap-
plied to the lowest closing price of either the first or

New 2016 Benefit Success Stories

Cigna: “I’ve had a wonderful experience so far with Cigna (medical & disability) and actually just got off the phone with a
“real human being” who was nice and very helpful!” -Denise Gordon, Corporate

WageWorks: “I am very happy with wage works. What I like most this year is we can buy additional items & medications
over the counter we could not buy at the store. -Norma Aleman, Dallas

For those locations eligible and enrolled in Cigna, there is a FREE
concierge service available 24/7 to answer questions about your
health plan and to help you make the most cost-effective decision
about your care. For more information about Cigna’s concierge
service, call Cigna at 800.244.6224 today!

Fidelity Investments:
www.netbenefits.fidelity.com

401(K): 800.835.5095
ESPP: 800.544.9354
Group 1 Benefits Center:
www.group1benefits.com

888.476.8966
M-F 7 am -7 pm CST.