Behind the Scenes of the New Park Place Motorcars Arlington
Diki Sue Terry of Springtown is not your average working mom. In fact, she will be one of the first female Parts Managers in the Park Place family of 18 dealerships when Park Place Motorcars Arlington opens November 2, 2015.
“Park Place has a great way of treating their employees,” explained Terry. “They invest in us with training courses in everything from Linked-In to better communications… all through the Park Place University website. They also train us to treat our clients with the utmost respect. Arlington has no idea how respectful we are to our clients.”
Terry grew up in Arlington and graduated from James W. Martin High School in 1993. She started in a Parts Advisory position at Park Place in 2006. She was promoted to Assistant Parts Manager within a year, and was recently named Parts Manager for the new Arlington Mercedes-Benz dealership.
Terry has her work cut out for her. Mercedes-Benz is introducing 10 new vehicles in 2016: including a new 4-door mid-sized SUV, several new diesel models, a plug-in hybrid C-Class and a sleek new SLK roadster.
“As the technology advances in our vehicles so do the components within them,” said Terry. “In Parts today, you must train continually to keep pace. I’m privileged to work for a company and a manufacturer who support us with Mercedes-Benz Learning & Performance Courses. We have quarterly training requirements that must be met in order to reach the next level of certification.” Terry had seven re-certifications just in the last quarter.
When asked what advice she would share with women considering a career in the automotive industry, Terry emphatically replied, “Go for it! Mercedes Benz USA (MBUSA) has a female manager in the area that encourages me. She said there are other female MBUSA Parts Managers in Florida. She thinks women make the best Parts Managers because we’re so detail-oriented.”
Park Place Motorcars Arlington is located on Interstate 20 at Beltway Place.
Terry and her husband, Patrick, have lived in Springtown for the past nine years. They have a 14-year-old daughter (Marianne) and a seven-year-old son (Michael).
Empowering women to succeed in the automotive industry is just one of many intriguing stories you’ll find among the “experts in excellence” at Park Place Motorcars Arlington.
Park Place Dealerships is continually looking for quality team members in accounting, sales, service, parts and human resources. To apply, go to http://www.parkplace.com/careers.
Ken Schnitzer founded Park Place Dealerships in 1987 with a single Mercedes-Benz dealership on Oak Lawn. Today, Park Place Dealerships employs more than 2,100 people and operates 18 full-service dealerships representing luxury brands including Lexus, Mercedes-Benz, Porsche, Infiniti, Volvo, smart, Jaguar, Lotus, Rolls-Royce, Bentley, McLaren, and Maserati. For more information about Park Place Dealerships, visit parkplace.com.