Archive for November, 2009

Regarding Henry

Tuesday, November 24th, 2009

To our friends and neighbors:

American business icon Henry Ford once noted, “Business is never so healthy as when, like a chicken, it must do a certain amount of scratching around for what it gets.” This was certainly a year for scratching, but thanks to our steadfast clients and some terrific deals on some really great cars, Hassett of Wantagh is stronger than ever.

So as we come to the end of 2009’s political and economic roller coaster, we want to thank the loyal customers who stuck with us through these tough times.

The recession that dramatically weakened our national economy is “officially” over, but its effects are still with us. America has just started on the road to recovery. This will be a difficult test of our national mettle, but as always, America will rise to the challenge. At Long Island’s No. 1 volume Ford, Lincoln, Mercury dealer, we’re proud to do our part by providing solid jobs – from the service lane to our showroom – and the most reliable vehicles on America’s roads.

You know, while Ford built what is arguably the most successful company in history, the Great Depression lurked. But Ford, as much a visionary as an automaker, was characteristically prepared. By 1929, he’d opened assembly plants in Australia, India and France, and had successful dealerships on six continents. Far from abandoning his American operations, the brilliant industrialist was actually addressing several concerns: A staunch believer in peace through international trade, he was also ensuring Ford Motor Co.’s continued viability, despite a declining American economy. “Before everything else,” Ford would say, “getting ready is the secret of success.”

There’s a sweet logic there. We’re getting ready for a big 2010 – but first, we’re closing 2009 with an expression of gratitude for our customers and friends: Hassett, a six-time winner of the Ford Motor Co. President’s Award for Exemplary Customer Service, is tying ribbons on a pair of customer-appreciation events, the Lincoln “Wish List” event and the Ford Year-End Sales Event.

“Wish List” is how Lincoln does a year-end clearance: the season’s best values on the entire 2010 line, including the standard in luxury sedans, the MKS; the mighty midsized MKZ; the finer all-wheel drive crossover, the MKX; and the all-new seven passenger luxury crossover MKT.

Representing the latest in opulence and technology, the Lincoln line (featuring the popular Active Park Assist system) boasts unmatched power, environmental responsibility and high-tech comfort – from the MKT’s three rows of luxury seating to the MKS’s available EcoBoost™ engine (V8 thrust with V6 thirst) to the MKX’s panoramic Vista Roof™. This “Wish List” has it all, wrapped in phenomenal prices, outstanding financing options, generous rebates and great lease deals. That’s what we call an economic recovery!

Also waiting under our tree is the Ford Year-End Sales Event, which features great deals on some of America’s safest cars. In fact, when the Virginia-based Insurance Institute for Highway Safety awarded its “top safety pick” this week to 19 passenger cars for the 2010 model year, Ford Motor Co. led the way with six awards.

Subaru, another make we know a few things about here at Hassett, tied for second with five Insurance Institute awards. For the record, neither the Honda Accord nor the Toyota Camry were among the Insurance Institute’s 2010 “top safety picks.”

Ford’s Insurance Institute honors came on the heels of Motor Trend Magazine naming the Ford Fusion its 2010 Car of the Year. The Fusion – which Motor Trend dubbed the “do-it-all sedan [that’s] better, smarter, nicer, prettier, comfier, leaner, meaner and greener in every way” – is one of several Ford models featured in the spectacular Year-End Sales Event. Also featured is the Ford Escape, always a favorite of the J.D. Power and Associates Initial Quality Study.

“A business that makes nothing but money is a poor business,” according to old Henry Ford, and we couldn’t agree more. So we’re working hard to thank a community that has always embraced us. From our family to yours, have the safest and happiest of holiday seasons. We’ll see you out on the road!

Best,

Lou Evans, General Manager, Hassett of Wantagh

Posted in Awards and Special Recognition, Ford, Hassett Automotive, Lincoln, Mercury, Special Promotions, Subaru | No Comments »

An American Classic

Tuesday, November 17th, 2009

mustang

Elvis. Marilyn Monroe. Air Jordan. The Liberty Bell. The Big Mac.

There’s no shortage of American icons. Pick a genre, a sport, an era … create a category any way you choose, and it has an emblematic high point. A person, place or thing against which all others are measured. It has a best.

For many auto enthusiasts, the best model of all time – at least, the most influential – burst onto the scene at the 1964 World’s Fair. Its phenomenal success was not about quality construction. Not about remarkable functionality. Not even about the lusty 271 horses in its “K-code” high-compression, solid-lifter, four-barrel, 289-cubic-inch heart (the strongest of several available engines back in ’64).

This not-too-distant cousin of the tiny Ford Falcon (which bequeathed both engineering concepts and its Dearborn, Mich., birthplace) actually had only one major thing going for it: It was a total knockout, the sexiest thing on the road after the Queen of Sleek herself, the Corvette.

The Mustang, an aptly named rejuvenation of American iron, was wrought specifically to appeal to Baby Boomers with newly minted driver’s licenses – a younger generation that wanted nothing to do with Pop’s old buggy. And boy, did it work: With Ford still working out the kinks, the ’65 Mustang (including coupes, fastbacks and convertibles) became one of the top-selling models of all time, with more than a half-million orders.

By the time Steve McQueen chased bad guys out of San Francisco in 1968’s “Bullitt” (their ’68 Dodge Charger R/T 440 Magnum was no match for Bullitt’s ’68 Mustang GT Fastback, or McQueen’s steely cool), the Mustang had merged into the American mainstream. More than that, it had permeated the national bloodstream, pumping excitement into American drivers the way the Mercury Cougar, the Pontiac Firebird and other competitors never could.

Through up years and down years, the Mustang has endured. Ford’s show pony now ranks among the world’s elite performance cars, Mustang’s heart is stronger than ever (the latest GT-500 achieves a dizzying 530 HP) and retro styling recalls the model’s earliest days.

“It’s an affordable sports car that hit a niche,” says Sal Rivela, Hassett of Wantagh’s Pre-owned manager. “It was the definitive muscle car of the ’60s. It outlasted the Challenger and the Trans Am.”

The modern Mustang’s fantastic dependability is one of several major selling points. “Ford’s quality has surpassed Toyota and Honda, as far as reliability and mechanical operation,” Sal notes. “These cars just hold up better than ever.”

And when Ford opted for that retro look a few years ago – the sharp angles never looked hotter – it only fanned the flame. “It brought back all the people who wanted to drive the ‘Bullitt’ car,” Sal says, estimating that Hassett moves upwards of 10 used Mustangs a month and as many as 150 new ones annually.

Today, there are more Mustang options than ever – from V6s to V8s to convertibles to that monstrous GT500 – and Hassett carries them all.

“Of course!” Sal says. “Hassett Has It.”

Posted in Ford, Monthly Spotlight on Hassett | No Comments »