Mr. Wood's background in
the automotive industry started while he was attending Western Michigan
University in Kalamazoo. He was a new car salesperson for a
Mercury-Edsel dealer. After college he continued to sell full time until
he had the opportunity to buy a small Hillman Sunbeam dealership in
Kalamazoo. Within two years the manufacturer went out of business and
Mr. Wood was forced to change his operation into a wholesale-retail used
car lot with a complete body shop making up the major part of the total
volume. He continued that operation until moving to Indianapolis in
1967 and purchasing Hedges Pontiac, which was located at 3125 E.
Washington Street. Since that initial franchise acquisition, Tom Wood, Inc. has grown to eighteen franchises and a full scale leasing operation, with locations throughout the Midwest - including Indianapolis and the surrounding area in Indiana, Lexington, Kentucky, Nashville, Tennessee, Fort Collins, Colorado, Richfield, Minnesota, and Wichita, Kansas. The current franchises include: Toyota/Scion, Nissan, Volkswagen, Subaru, Jaguar, Volvo, Acura, Mitsubishi, Land Rover, Porsche, Audi, Ford, Lexus and Honda. In addition to these franchises, there is Tom Wood Rental, Tom Wood Collision, Tom Wood Aviation, Tom Wood Powersports, Tom Wood Outdoor, Wood Group Insurance, Quality Leasing, and Premier Acceptance.
Although Mr. Wood lost a long, hard fought battle with cancer in February of 2010, his inspiring legacy in the Indianapolis community will long be remembered. Mr. Wood's philosophy is Success is not measured by the number of franchises or locations an organization has; it is measured by the people associated with it. All of the employees of Tom Wood Automotive strive every day to live up to Mr. Wood's philosophy by making every guest a loyal and satisfied guest for life. More than 1100 employees make up the Tom Wood family. Such individuals are few and far between, but we've succeeded in assembling the highest quality team.
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