Baierl kicks off employee pricing incentive

Lee Baierl has just brought a great idea back to life, giving the Pittsburgh-area auto buyer a tremendous break. It’s an adaptation of General Motors’ program of a few years back, when the automaker made employee pricing available to everyone. Just days ago Baierl Automotive launched its version of an employee-pricing program, offering retail buyers the very same discounts available to Baierl employees. But in this case the program applies across the board, to all new and pre-owned vehicles, at all nine dealerships. The program kicks in automatically for every new or pre-owned vehicle purchased, and runs through the month of May.

“When you combine what we are willing to sell a car for with the incentives that manufacturers are offering,” said Baierl, “buyers will pay thousands below factory invoice.”

A family business that began operations in 1954, Baierl Automotive today has 450 employees. When Lee Baierl joined the business in 1980, there were but two dealerships, a Honda and a Chevy franchise, on Penn Highway in Wexford. Lee, now president of the company, attributes the exponential growth in subsequent years, in part, to being in the right place, at the right time. Wexford, an upper-middle class area once named one of the best places to live by “Money” magazine, enjoyed remarkable growth. “Good things kind of grew up around us,” said Lee. “As a result, our business grew, and we were able to add new dealerships.”

All nine of Baierl’s dealerships are full service, and there are two body shops. The company also maintains a finance department. “We work hard on that,” said Lee. “With all the volume we do, we have great relationships with financial institutions, which can be of help in developing financing options for customers.”

This is the second year in which Baierl Automotive has offered an employee pricing program to retail buyers. Appropriately, it comes on the heels of last month’s very successful Pittsburgh International Auto Show. “We felt the time was right to roll out the program again,” said Lee, “and give something back to the community that’s made us successful.” The program not only affords buyers tremendous savings, he added, but makes the whole purchasing process hassle-free.

While the program is sure to move new and pre-owned vehicles out of the showrooms and off the lots, Baierl Automotive anticipates trade-ins will help replenish its supply of quality used cars. Lee estimates that new-car and truck sales account for about 60 percent of dealerships business, while pre-owned vehicles account for about 40 percent. “We’ve got quality used vehicles,” he said, “but we always are looking for good trade-in traffic.” Because the dealerships cover a wide spectrum of makes and models, trade-ins of all kinds are welcome.

In Lee’s view, the roll out of the employee pricing program, combined with incentives from the manufacturers, gives buyers twice the reason to shop for that new or used vehicle.

“I don’t think you could find a better time to buy than right now,” said Lee.