#TEAMZEIGLER Spotlight: Zeigler Hyundai of Racine

Zeigler Auto Group is proud to present our new series: #TEAMZEIGLER Spotlight, where we highlight different teams across our organization. To kick off this exciting new initiative, we are dedicating the entire month of October to our four new teams in Wisconsin: Zeigler Hyundai of Racine, Zeigler Subaru of Kenosha, and Zeigler Honda of Racine, and Zeigler Toyota of Racine. These stores joined our family in July as part of the largest acquisition to date for Zeigler Auto Group, collectively adding a total of 14,000 vehicle sales a year to our organization and setting us up to retail over 67,000 vehicles group-wide; and over $2.2 billion in sales next year.

Every week you'll get to know more about the newest members of #TEAMZEIGLER, starting with Zeigler Hyundai of Racine, our first Hyundai store.  Joe St. Germain, the VP of the Zeigler Wisconsin and Adrian Basich, GM for Zeigler Hyundai of Racine and Zeigler Toyota of Racine, gave us some insight on how the new Zeigler stores are doing, what the acquisition process was like, and much more. "I am thrilled to have all of these folks be a part of Team Zeigler, they have really joined the family and team, and truly embraced the Zeigler culture. These are great stores and great locations and we are just so lucky that we were able to get great people too," said Germain. 

Basich, who has been with the Racine location since 2017, acknowledged that there were many unknowns when it came to the acquisition. However, Zeigler's transition team quickly put his and his staff's concerns to rest. "The Zeigler organization has made our position of selling cars an easy one. The fact that Zeigler likes to give employees inside the company that opportunity to grow into the positions that they'd like is also a huge plus."

He also says Zeigler leadership has helped ease the community's concerns. "They allow us to help our employees grow as a team, showing our customers that even though we have a different name we will still treat them with the same respect and dignity as we have before." Since the acquisition, Zeigler has kept all of the previous employees at this location, showing our commitment to the community and its economic stability and growth. 

But even before Zeigler acquired Zeigler Hyundai of Racine, the dealership was a top performer. In fact, along with its location, it was one of the biggest reasons Aaron J. Zeigler- the auto group's president and owner- decided to expand into the area. "Besides the fact that these are top performing, high volume stores, we chose these stores because of their great potential. They will without a doubt offer all of our customers, both current and new, access to more choices with their locations being right off the highway."

Although the entire team has played a part in keeping Zeigler Hyundai of Racine in a top position-it has been the number one volume store in the state of Wisconsin and the top 20 for the Chicago Region-Joe St. Germain and Adrian Basich both agreed that there were a few team members that deserved a special shout out.

"Adrian Basich, Sherri Teodoro, Ed Rodriguez, Herberth Aguilar, and the entire team at Zeigler Hyundai of Racine have done a phenomenal job making us the top Hyundai dealer in the region. I am very proud of you all. I consider you all my brothers and sisters," said Germain. 

Adrian's top picks included service manager Ed Rodriguez, office manager Sheri Teodoro, finance manager Johan Bielefeld,

internet sales consultant Lisa Smoody; and sales manager Zachary Solkowski, the dealer's first P.R.I.D.E. Award winner.

"Zachary Solkowski, my Sales Manager, has constantly gone above and beyond leading our sales team with a customer first culture." 

"Ed Rodriguez, my Service Manager, with his constant mentoring and overall positive attitude in leadership." 

"Sheri Teodoro is my Office Manager who has constantly helped all of the employees any time they had a question or concern."

"Johan Bielefeld is my Finance Manager who has gone above and beyond making financing deals smooth and easy."

"Lisa Smoody is our Internet Sales Consultant who is constantly bringing our amazing customers and helping their purchase go nice and smoothly."

As a brand new franchise for Zeigler, Zeigler Hyundai of Racine has added an exciting lineup of new vehicles to the organization's more than 1,266 new vehicles; starting with these 8 award-winning SUVs: the 2022 Kona, Tucson, Santa Cruz, Santa Fe, Palisade, Ioniq 5; and the 2021 Venue and Nexo Fuel Cell. From these award-winners, customers can choose from a number of different sizes and options including electric, plug-in hybrid, hydrogen fuel-cell, and standard gas on different models from compact 5-passenger crossover SUVs to full-size 8-passenger SUVs.

 Zeigler Hyudai of Racine also has plenty of other popular Hyundai models available including the Accent, Veloster, Elantra, Sonata and the Sonata Hybrid. Want more information on Zeigler Hyundai of Racine? Click here to learn more or stop by 133313 Washington Ave. in Mount Pleasant, Wisconsin. 

ABOUT ZEIGLER AUTOMOTIVE GROUP

Zeigler Automotive Group is one of the largest privately-owned dealer groups in the U.S. with 78 franchises across 35 locations in Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, and Michigan. Vehicle brands represented include all of the domestic and the majority of the imported manufacturers.

Besides its extensive automotive portfolio, the organization owns and operates Zeigler Motorsports, an 85,000-square-foot motorsports dealership and action park, offering 19 different powersports brands, plus its own onsite restaurant: Trak Houz Bar & Grill. Additionally, Zeigler Motorsports houses the Elevate Leadership & Team Building Academy, an executive training company.

The Kalamazoo-based dealer group also owns and operates Zeigler Pre-Owned of Chicago, a Carquest Auto Parts store, three Byrider franchises, three finance companies, several insurance firms, and a leasing firm.

Founded in 1975, the organization employs over 2,300 people, ranking among the top 1% of automotive dealers in the nation with estimated annual sales of $2.2 billion for 2022. The family-owned and operated company is well known for its commitment to both customer service and employee satisfaction. Zeigler is regularly recognized as one of the Best and Brightest Companies to Work for in the Nation, also earning similar accolades in Chicago and Michigan.