Anchorage Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram: Miles ahead of the pack.

AuthorHenry, Arie
PositionTOP 49ERS SPECIAL SECTION / ANCHORAGE CHRYSLER

Alaska is a rugged place. Its landscape is rugged, its people are rugged, and it takes rugged tools to get the job--whatever job that may be--done. It comes as no surprise, then, that the state's roads are dominated by large pickups, four-wheel drive SUVs, and hill-traversing Jeeps. Alaska terrain calls for vehicles built with power and maneuverability.

Enter Anchorage Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram, which prides itself as "Ram Truck Territory and Alaska's Jeep Headquarters." As recently as 2014, the State of Alaska Department of Motor Vehicles records contained more registrations of Chrysler, Dodge, and Ram vehicles than any other automobile brand (compared to ownership of brands such as Ford, Chevrolet, or Toyota). According to Anchorage Chrysler President and General Manager Corey Meyers, there are very few states in a similar situation, perhaps only one other.

"We're the top dealer, so we're the biggest contributing factor to those numbers," he points out.

As a result, Anchorage Chrysler has long enjoyed its position at the top of the list of dealerships selling the aforementioned brands. For years, it has also enjoyed a spot among the Top 49ers, a list that includes only one other automobile dealer.

A History of Success

Even Anchorage Chrysler's beginnings fifty-five years ago embody that rugged Alaska resilience. Founded in 1963 by then-owner Ken Davis, the dealership survived the earthquake of 1964 that devastated much of Anchorage, including the downtown area where Anchorage Chrysler is still located today. When its original building didn't survive the quake, the dealership simply moved next door and resumed business as usual.

"This [current] building is a mirror image of that one," explains Anchorage Chrysler Vice President Calvin Towns, who Meyers points to as a wealth of information about the dealership's history.

Towns recalls a slightly different makeup of brands sold by the dealership when he first started in 1976.

"Back then we had Chrysler, Plymouth, Dodge--which sold Dodge trucks at the time--and Mitsubishi. And as we've evolved. Dodge trucks turned into Ram, they took Plymouth away, and brought Jeep onboard. So we're still back to the four brands."

"And we've always been the biggest dealer in the state on the Chrysler level," Meyers adds. "When we took on Jeep, we became the biggest Jeep dealer, as well."

Ray Sutton took over ownership in the late 1970s, followed by Rod Udd in 1990. Under Udd, Anchorage Chrysler embarked on a new...

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