Michigan car T-top firm gives new cars to all employees.
A company car is often looked upon as a sign that an executive has "made it," but at Car & Concepts of Brighton, Michigan it's a sign that the employees have got it made.
Richard R. Chrysler, president of the eighteen-month-old firm that specializes in installing T-tops on cars, has decided to give his 250 employees a free car for business and personal use. The only condition is that they must have worked for the company at least one year. This benefit extends "all the way from the executive to the maintenance workers," he said.
Currently, 38 employees have the cars. A unit is delivered on the day each worker celebrates his first anniversary with the firm.
"A company car is something I always appreciated myself and I feel it's a nice thing for my employees," Chrysler said.
The employees have a choice of any car the company installs T-tops on. The T-tops, a $650 option in most cases, are installed on the employees' vehicles at no charge and, at the present time, workers have a choice between the Dodge Aspen and the Plymouth Volare. During the upcoming model year, those employed by Cars & Concepts will have the additional choices of a Dodge Diplomat, Chrysler LeBaron, Ford Thunderbird or Mercury Cougar.
The vehicles are leased from the Livingston-Oakland County Automotive Leasing Co., also of Brighton. The leasing company will be handling arrangements for employee cars when Cars & Concepts expands facilities to Chicago, III.; St. Louis, Mo.; Lorraine, Ohio and Van Nuys, California.
An employee is free to treat the car as if it were his own and use is not limited to business travel. By the time all the employees have cars, Chrysler estimates he'll have "almost a million dollars invested" in the fleet. As a result, the company will frown upon any lending of the cars to friends.
The employees will also be responsible for maintenance, fuel and insurance. Lease and license fees will be taken care of by the company.
Once the car comes off lease, the driver will have an option to purchase the vehicle at wholesale price. A new company car will be given to the worker at the end of the three-year lease period.
In addition to the goodwill the cars generate among the employees, the program will be good advertising for Cars & Concepts once the employees drive their T-tops home and show their friends. Chrysler admits that "it will get our product out into the field."
Lynette Hoetger, a bookkeeper at the firm who was one of the first to receive a car as part of the program, said, "I couldn't believe it was true. I had an old car that was on its last leg and I was thinking about what kind of car I would like and what I could afford.
"I have always liked convertibles, but I thought they were dangerous. I'll feel safe with the T-roof and I won't have to think about car payments," she said. "It's incredible."
The benefit of getting a company car will also serve to attract high-caliber personnel to the company, according to Chrysler, who is a distant relative of Walter P. Chrysler, founder of the automobile company.
"Our employees will be able to show people what they do for living," he said. "I think it will help to build pride in the product and the place where they work."
comparison of 1973-74 model year costs with costs for the 1975-76 model year. Contributing to these rising costs are higher new car prices, interest rates, taxes, labor costs, gasoline and insurance.
Fleet Composition By Car Size
What are companies doing to control rising auto fleet costs? Here are the specific actions taken in the past two years by the companies responding to the survey.
Uncertainty and concern over new Financial Accounting Standard Board rules on leasing were voiced by fleet executives. Capitalization of finance leases, which creates balance sheet liabilities, could encourage some customers to accept radically redesigned lease contracts or to switch to either company or employee ownership, the Runzheimer study found.
The general switch to smaller cars for economy and energy reasons was evident in the plans for 1977 auto fleets revealed by survey participants. The biggest change will be in the purchase of standard-sized cars. While 53-percent of the companies were using standard-sized cars in 1976, only six percent will in 1977. An additional 30-percent are, however, planning to use the new GM standard-sized car.
Copies of the complete 1977 Survey and Analysis of Business Car Policies and Costs are available from Runzheimer and Company, Runzheimer Park, Rochester, Wisconsin 53167.
