Michael Jr. Higham
Frederick
Summary
My career goal is to utilize my extensive automotive experience to assist an automotive enterprise to exceed their growth and P&L objectives and to dominate the retail market in their area.
Highly driven General Manager successful at implementing strategic approaches to drive profitability and sales. Recognized for performance excellence in operations and customer care. Successful at motivating, training and developing team members to drive profitability in highly competitive environment.
Overview
32
32
years of professional experience
Work History
General Manager / Corporate Director of Pre Owned
DARCARS Lexus Silver Spring DARCARS Auto Group
Silver Spring
05.2020 - 01.2026
- Responsible for leading a Top 10 volume Lexus dealer in the Eastern Area.
- I have achieved record setting net profit numbers while maintaining Elite of Lexus CSI standards and sales efficiency in excess of 180%.
- Oversaw daily dealership operations to ensure smooth workflow and customer satisfaction.
General Manager
Asbury Automotive Group, Nalley Toyota of Roswell and Nalley Nissan of Atlanta
Roswell
06.2019 - 04.2020
- Took over a failing Nissan operation and cleaned up the business to position it for a buy/sell while also running day to day operations of a Toyota franchise.
General Manager
Berkshire Hathaway Automotive, Mercedes Benz of South Atlanta and Gwinnett Place Ford
02.2017 - 06.2019
- I am responsible for all dealership operations and tasked with producing net to sales and net to gross results, New and Pre-Owned market share performance, and World Class customer satisfaction levels.
- I have exceeded owner’s expectations in all areas.
General Manager
Asbury Automotive Group, Nalley Honda
Atlanta
05.2015 - 01.2017
- I was responsible for all dealership operations and profitability.
- I was tasked with turning around a store with 3 consecutive years of declining sales efficiency and sub-par associate retention.
- In my time there I was able to set Honda New Car record sales volume, reduce associate turnover dramatically, and achieve net profit levels well above industry standards.
- Consistently produce net to sales and net to gross results greater than our peer group.
Area General Manager / Director
Gulf States Toyota Distributors
Houston
01.2011 - 04.2015
- I had full responsibility for a team of 10 District Managers covering 37 dealers in OK, TX, LA, AR, and MS.
- My responsibility was to drive performance in the areas of market share, leasing, customer retention in sales and service, Toyota Express Maintenance processes, and overall customer satisfaction and profitability of dealerships.
- A majority of my dealers were market leaders in all areas.
- I train my managers to develop, implement, and sustain processes that lead to the ultimate goal of selling more cars, retaining more customers, and enhancing dealership profitability.
- I have also held positions as Retail Training Manager, Signature Process Manager, and District Sales Manager with Gulf States Toyota.
General Sales Manager
Capital Eurocars VW, Volvo, Porsche
Tallahassee
03.2010 - 01.2011
- I was responsible for all new and pre-owned sales operations including advertising, inventory control, recruiting, training, CSI, market penetration, and departmental profitability.
General Sales Manager
Toyota of Waldorf
Waldorf
07.2009 - 01.2010
- I was responsible for all new and pre-owned sales operations including advertising, inventory control, recruiting, training, CSI, market penetration, and departmental profitability.
- This move was for a potential buy in opportunity that did not materialize.
General Manager
Rosner Toyota of Stafford
Stafford
02.2009 - 07.2009
- I was responsible for all dealership operations including hiring, training, and building a highly effective and profitable team with award winning CSI.
- Within 3 months turned a YTD loss dealer into a $100,000 per month net profit achiever.
- I left this position to pursue a potential buy in opportunity.
Vice-President and General Manager
Sheehy Nissan of Statesville
Statesville
12.2007 - 01.2009
- I was responsible for all dealership operations and P&L.
- (note: I sold my interest in this dealership in January 2009)
President and Operating Partner
Thomas Michael Companies
Mooresville
01.2006 - 01.2007
- I started a small development and construction company specializing in residential waterfront development on Lake Norman in North Carolina.
Vice-President and General Manager
Lexus of Annapolis
Annapolis
01.1997 - 01.2005
- I was a 5 time Elite of Lexus winner and in the top ten customer satisfaction dealers in the country 5 of 8 years.
- We were consistently the number one sales satisfaction dealer in the eastern area for Lexus.
- I grew this dealership from selling 30 vehicles per month to in excess of 130 vehicles per month.
- Total dealership gross profit increased from $120,000 per month to in excess of $1,000,000 consistently.
- In addition, I constructed a new 50,000sf+ facility and oversaw the relocation of the entire operation while maintaining consistent sales and profitability growth.
District Manager (Southeast Toyota)
JM Family Enterprises
01.1994 - 01.1997
- In charge of TQE (Toyota Quality Experience).
- I developed sales and service processes for dealerships that enabled them to increase sales, gross profit, and customer retention rates.
- This was accomplished through the establishment of cross functional teams within the dealership.
- My area of responsibility was the Atlanta, Georgia metro area.
F&I Specialist, District Manager, and Regional Manager
JM&A Group
- Conducted in depth F&I department analysis and developed extensive plans for improvement with well defined targets.
- I implemented selling processes and trained F&I managers on the latest JM&A selling techniques.
Education
Bachelor of Science degree - Management Studies
University of Maryland
College Park, MDAssociate of Arts degree - Automotive Marketing
Northwood University
West Palm Beach, FLHigh School Diploma -
Severna Park High School
Severna Park, MDSkills
- Reynolds and Reynolds
- ADP
- UCS
- DealerTrack
- Route One
- VAuto
- AAX
- Dealer Daily
- Patriot Dealer
- VINSolutions
- Auto Alert
- Desking programs
- Microsoft Office
References
Available upon request.
Additional Qualifications
- Recipient of the Jim Moran Scholarship in 1986
- Honored with multiple Elite of Lexus awards between 1997-2005
- Gulf States Toyota Retail Trainer of the year in 2012
- Experience with DMS and automotive software programs: Reynolds and Reynolds, ADP, UCS, DealerTrack, Route One, vAuto, AAX, Dealer Daily, Patriot Dealer, VINSolutions, Auto Alert and various desking programs.
- Proficient in Microsoft Office applications.
Timeline
General Manager / Corporate Director of Pre Owned
DARCARS Lexus Silver Spring DARCARS Auto Group
05.2020 - 01.2026
General Manager
Asbury Automotive Group, Nalley Toyota of Roswell and Nalley Nissan of Atlanta
06.2019 - 04.2020
General Manager
Berkshire Hathaway Automotive, Mercedes Benz of South Atlanta and Gwinnett Place Ford
02.2017 - 06.2019
General Manager
Asbury Automotive Group, Nalley Honda
05.2015 - 01.2017
Area General Manager / Director
Gulf States Toyota Distributors
01.2011 - 04.2015
General Sales Manager
Capital Eurocars VW, Volvo, Porsche
03.2010 - 01.2011
General Sales Manager
Toyota of Waldorf
07.2009 - 01.2010
General Manager
Rosner Toyota of Stafford
02.2009 - 07.2009
Vice-President and General Manager
Sheehy Nissan of Statesville
12.2007 - 01.2009
President and Operating Partner
Thomas Michael Companies
01.2006 - 01.2007
Vice-President and General Manager
Lexus of Annapolis
01.1997 - 01.2005
District Manager (Southeast Toyota)
JM Family Enterprises
01.1994 - 01.1997
F&I Specialist, District Manager, and Regional Manager
JM&A Group
Bachelor of Science degree - Management Studies
University of Maryland
Associate of Arts degree - Automotive Marketing
Northwood University
High School Diploma -
Severna Park High School