This San Angelo Car Dealership Wins Coveted and Prestigious Award for the First Time Ever

SAN ANGELO, TX — Friday, representatives for the corporate offices of the Ford Motor Company were in San Angelo to award the team at Jim Bass Cars & Trucks the President’s Award for their work in 2017. According to the head of the Ford division for Texas and Oklahoma, this is the first President’s Award for Jim Bass Ford in its 56 years of operation. The late Jim Bass, Sr. founded the San Angelo car dealership in 1961.

The event, broadcasted on Facebook Live by Ford, was as celebratory as it was emotional. Jim Bass, who could barely hold back his emotions, gave credit to the hundreds of employees. After the Ford executives handed the large plaque to Jim and John Bass, Jim went to the microphone.

“The true winners of the award are the employees here, all of the members of the Bass Bunch. The long hours, the challenges of true customer satisfaction, are difficult parts of the job,” he said. “Being the representatives of the Ford Motor Company, in the eyes of our customers, it’s our fault when the vehicle doesn’t run, or when parts aren’t available, and it’s our fault when they stopped making those parts altogether. But the members of the Bass Bunch have risen to the occasion, they’ve done their job, and based upon the criteria for this award, they have excelled by posting record numbers of vehicle sales while maintaining customer satisfaction in both sales and service.”

With that, Jim Bass recognized Eddie Rose, the Bass Parts and Service Director, and Todd Price, the General Sales Manager; both of whom the Bass’s say led the effort. “They drive the boat. All I do is open the mail and stay out of the way,” quipped John Bass.

The top five percent of Ford Dealerships are recognized by the President’s Award. But there is more. Jim Bass Ford posted year-over-year record sales growth, increasing 38 percent from 2015 to 2016, and increased again 24 percent from 2016 to 2017. “Double-digit growth two years in a row is unheard of, and it’s because of all of your hard work and being a positive part of this community,” said Ford Motor Company’s Sales Operations Manager Heather Clark.

“For this award for the Dallas region, only three percent of the dealerships have won the President’s Award that had over a 20 percent growth in sales for 2017,” said Clark. “And there’s only one store [this one] that can say they’ve done it two years in a row.” There are about 100 Ford dealerships in the Dallas region.

With executives from local media in the house, John Bass thanked all for helping the dealership “get the word out” even while the way you reach prospective customers has changed and transitioned to the internet.

The event was hosted inside the Bass showroom. The drum line from the Central High School Marching Band and the Central Bobcat Cheerleaders provided much excitement as the event unfolded. The San Angelo Diocese Bishop Michael Sis blessed the ceremony. It was a scene out of the movie and TV series “Friday Night Lights.”

Jim Bass Ford awarded every employee with a challenge coin and a baseball hat denoting President’s Award Winner. After the ceremony, the employees, friends, and family enjoyed cake and punch.