Another Year Come & Gone at Bergen Jaguar

Well another year has come and gone... 2012 starts our 19th year as Bergen Jaguar. Sometimes it seems longer and other times it feels just like yesterday.

Nineteen years ago you had to choose either a glove box or an airbag in our 1993 XJ sedan… a lot has changed since then. People have changed, at our dealership and at corporate, staff has gotten married and had children, some kids even sent off to college… some have also gone.

We should always remember that if not for our customers we would not have been able to accomplish these milestones… but one thing has remained constant throughout our history, people passionate about the brand as though it was living thing.

I tell people this is the best job I have ever had and it is… I have met all kinds of people from all over the world, but the folks that have worked at our stores, Bergen, Englewood, and Madison are the ones I will remember always. They have a special place in my heart—so thank you for making my life special… Happy New Year!

Jaguar at Play

Jaguar’s new ad is proof that sometimes things are worth the wait. Our new television spot hits the brand right on. This is what Jaguar is now… beautiful fast cars that are almost alive.

We are the only luxury brand that is named after a living thing. Jaguars (the animal) are solo creatures, that you very rarely see in the wild (I guess the same can be said of the car)… but it looks like with Jaguar’s new management and direction, that may not be the case anymore.

So fasten your seatbelts… looks like Jaguar isn't playing around anymore.

The Liberace Museum

Way before in another life, I was in the shopping center business. Every year there would be a convention, the ICSC (the International Council of Shopping Centers) was held in May in Las Vegas. At one time it was Las Vegas’ largest convention.

Since we were a small developer (much like the our car company of today) we used to try to make the most unusual displays. We actually hired Vanna White one year and literally emptied out the other displays when she appeared at our booth.

Needless to say, location was a priority, and we always had a great location because we knew a very nice man who was head of the union at the convention center. So I used to travel months before the convention to have dinner with “this nice man” and discuss our location.

Now if you know me, you might say I dress rather differently to other folks. So I’m on this flight to Vegas, in first class, when a rather attractive woman spots me an says, “it’s really quite a shame that we lost him, isn’t it”? I say, “yes it is.”

Now I have no clue what’s she’s taking about but I go along. It’s only about half way through the trip so what else can I do? ”Are you going to the ceremony,” she asks. I say, “Yes”…I still have no idea what she’s taking about but she was rather familiar looking.

After a while, the flight attendant comes over and remarks, “So you’re in show business, do you know Linda Dano well? I love her.” Now it’s starting to come together, she’s not some leasing agent I know, but a soap star and that was the week Liberace had died.

Not a great story, but like most of my stories, yep, there’s more… So I get into the limo and pick up “the nice guy” and proceeded to tell him the story about what happened on my flight.

He says, “you know, there’s a Liberace Museum here. So we go and enter a strip mall center with a nail salon, waterbed store, etc and there it was… sort of sad.

Some folks think of our dealership as a museum... maybe even a little like that Liberace Museum, which of course would make me somewhat like the "Curator of the Liberace Museum."

Goodbye to Gary Temple & Richard Beattie

It’s never easy saying goodbye... Two very important people that I’ve known for almost 20 years have retired from Jaguar Cars, Gary Temple, President of Jaguar/Land Rover, N.A. and Richard Beattie, EVP of Jaguar Cars.

I’ve spent many hours with both of them personally and professionally all over the world… We’ve talked about family, business, but never golf…

I love you both very much, it would take so long to describe the many experiences over the years, thanks for putting up with me, thanks for your patience, and thanks for teaching me the car business…

Happy 50th Birthday Jaguar XKE

That big cat on the high end

Dennis Squitieri, president, Bergen Jaguar in Paramus and Madison Jaguar in Madison, said that sales of new cars in 2010 at Madison were up 32 percent, and those in Paramus were up 17 percent over the previous year.

“There are three reasons that consumer confidence is better,” he said. “We have a lot of new product, the product is reliable, and consumers’ perception of where the country is at is better.” He draws the analogy of Neiman Marcus removing its logo from its shopping bags during the recession because customers didn’t want to flaunt their wealth. “They also didn’t want to drive a brand new car like a Jaguar into the parking lot while telling employees there would be no raises, bonuses, or a Christmas party,” he said. “That’s over with.”

Other pluses are a new five-year, 50,000-mile warranty and two new luxury sedans, the XJ and four-door XF. One thing Jaguar always has going for it is aesthetics. Says Squitieri: “It’s low, sleek, feline, ready to pounce, agile like a jaguar.”

In fact, the XK-E, on display at the Museum of Modern Art, is celebrating its 50th anniversary. Enzo Ferrari himself dubbed it “the most beautiful car ever made,” according to Squitieri. “That,” he says, “is like Mario Batali liking your tomatoe sauce."

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