Star Profile Karla Chickering of Hampton Jaguar
By John Temple Ligon
Temple@TheColumbiaStar.com

Photo by John Temple Ligon

Born in St. Joseph, Michigan, on the lake and close to the Indiana line, Karla Chickering grew up a closet car buff. After earning the requisite honors in high school, Chickering scored a seat in Duke's freshman class.

Her father gave his blessing to any school in another section of the country. She could have gone to New England or the Pacific coast, for instance, but she could not go to Notre Dame, just 20 miles from home, or even the University of Chicago, an hour away. Running home on weekends was not his idea of going off to college.

Chickering majored in political science and had her eye on USC's master's in international business. After graduation, she came here to work a few years before business school and establish in-state residence.

After a couple years in banking, Chickering moved to Greenville where both her mother and her sister had already moved. In 1990, her mother needed a new car, and Chickering visited the Mazda dealership where she was treated poorly.

Chickering bought the car, but she also set up an appointment with the sales manager to let him know just how poorly the dealership treated her. The manager turned the tables at the meeting and offered her a job in sales. She took it.

After several years in the business in Greenville, her reputation spread to Columbia. The Jaguar credit representative suggested she get with Hampton Jaguar. She did in 1997 as a sales person.

Two years later, Chickering became sales manager for Hampton Jaguar. Today she holds the same position with the distinctive title of Gold Certified Sales Manager.

Other distinctions at Hampton Jaguar include the Pride of Jaguar for 1999 and for 2005. The Pride of Jaguar award goes to the top 12 dealerships in the country for sales and service.

Earning the Mark of Distinction Award, Chickering was singled out personally in 2004 as the top Jaguar sales manager in the country.

The Jaguar Managers' Guild tapped Chickering in 2003 and 2005 as one of the country's top 12 sales managers.

Sales success follows honed skills and hard work, but it does help to have a hot product. Jaguar has four vehicles: three sedans and a sports car.

The largest sedan, the all-aluminum XJ, is also Jaguar's biggest seller at a price ranging from $63,000 to $78,000.

The S-Type sedan is right behind the XJ in sales volume. Its prices run $49,000-$$55,000.

The X-Type, Jaguar's entry luxury car segment, is the most affordable Jaguar at $35,000-$45,000.

Jaguar's sports car, the XK, comes in hardtop and convertible models. The convertible is more popular, by far, so when you see an XK hardtop, you see something rare. The XK is priced $75,000-$94,000.

There are four Jaguar dealers in South Carolina and three in North Carolina. Regardless where a Jaguar is bought, Hampton Jaguar's award-winning service is available. Offered only to their own customers, however, is Hampton Jaguar's free loner car program.

In J.D. Power and Associates 2005 Initial Quality Survey, Jaguar is second among the top 15 brands. That puts Jaguar (#2) ahead of BMW (#3), Cadillac (#5), Mercedes-Benz (#6), Infiniti (#9), and Lincoln (#14).

Chickering is proud of the XK's new look for 2007, designed by Ian McCallum, who left Aston Martin for Jaguar. With McCallum on board, Jaguar expects a new design for the S-Type next year.