May 2010 News and Specials from Auto Haus!

Rob Carpenter - Marketing Manager

For this month's Employee Spotlight, Hans asked me to write about myself. As Editor of this newsletter, I soon found out it's not so easy to tell your own story, but here it goes anyway. I was born and raised in Hampton, VA. I grew up the middle child in a very close family of 5 kids and two loving parents. As a child and into adulthood I always had a passion for cars...especially fast cars, but who knew it would one day become my career. Growing up I wanted to be a race car driver, but the opportunities weren't there for me so I focused on my second love - music. I learned to play drums in my teens and have been banging away at them ever since playing for local Christian bands and my church. I graduated from college in the 1980's with a BSBA in Marketing and began my career in marketing and business development for local financial institutions. Over the next 18 years I worked for a few different banks and credit unions here locally and as far away as Richmond, VA. It was in 2001, when I was a Private Banker for a local community bank, that I met Hans Hohlrieder, the president of Auto Haus. That business relationship and my financial experience enabled me to become Auto Haus' first Business Manager in charge of financing. And, because Auto Haus is more like a full-service new car franchise than a typical used car dealership, I was able to entice several local and national financial institutions to sign on as partners with us in offering our customers competitive automotive financing.

After successfully establishing the financing department at Auto Haus, I began to focus more on the marketing side of the business. My position as Marketing Manager began a few years ago and everyday here is more like enjoying a hobby than going to work. As Marketing Manager, I am in charge of all media advertising including print, TV and radio, as well as, website design/development, monthly newsletters, Ebay sales, and more. I also market our high-performance specialty vehicles like the MKIII Cobra, GT40, Corvette Grand Sport, Shelby Daytona Coupe, 356 Speedster, and 550 Spyder from manufacturers like Superformance and Beck. I get to attend car shows and automotive events throughout the area with these supercars and its almost like fulfilling my childhood dream of becoming a race car driver. My latest venture is marketing our new line of Tomberlin, street-legal, electric Low Speed Vehicles (LSVs). We recently became a franchised new car dealer for Tomberlin and can now offer the E-Merge, Vanish, and Anvil as eco-friendly alternatives for neighborhood commuting. Read more about our Tomberlin vehicles above or stop by today and take a test drive. At Auto Haus, we offer our customers top quality luxury automobiles, superior service, competitive pricing, high-performance supercars, eco-friendly electric vehicles, and so much more...what more could a marketing guy ask for?

Although I love my job, I would be remiss if I didn't tell you about my true love in life...my beautiful wife Jennifer and my 5 wonderful children who make my everyday worth living.

Thanks for taking the time to read our newsletter each month and feel free to send me suggestions for future issues at rob@autohausva.com.