Pub. 60 2019-2020 Issue 5

25 FALL 2020 Kyler Schulze, 39 General manager, AutoNation USA Katy A t 15, Kyler Schulze was able to get a hardship driver’s license as a way to help his mother finan- cially. The license got him a job clean- ing, transferring and delivering cars. At 18, after his high school graduation, he sold used cars at Don Davis Ford in Arlington, Texas. That was more than 20 years ago. He also worked at Group 1 Automotive Inc. and the Van Tuyl Group before moving to AutoNation USA Katy in Houston, Texas. Schulze has been the general manager of the AutoNation USA Katy store for more than a year now. It only sells used cars, which is good because Schulze is passionate about them and has al- ways excelled at selling them. As the general manager, he started with an underperforming store that now has had the highest volume of customer purchases according to gross metrics, not just within the state’s five locations but nationally, during the first quarter. (AutoNation USA currently has about 230 stores.) Sales volume is up 56% since he started. Schulze has been able to get these results by using the com- pany’s We’ll Buy Your Car program. Schulze credits his team for the store’s success. Staffers are good about fol- lowing up on prospective leads, and one exceptionally skilled member of the team has the program as his only focus. Schulze also helps, of course. When Schulze joined AutoNation, he ran a Dallas-based Nissan store. After that, he worked in three other dealer- ships to help them improve their used- car departments. A promotion soon followed. As a used-vehicle director, he oversaw 14 stores in the Dallas-Forth Worth area. Schulze thinks his success is the result of putting employees in a place where they can excel, focusing on helping them have a good attitude and setting high expectations. What are his goals? He wants to be- come a market president and then a regional president. But he hasn’t lost the desire to help others succeed by mentoring them the way he’s been mentored. He knows that he would not be where he is now without help from others.  under