General Motors Institute, Now Kettering University

Kettering University
Image: kettering.edu

Prior to beginning a professional career in automotive sales, Bill Schwyhart attended the Chrysler Corporation Sales and Training program in Detroit, Michigan, in 1979, where he studied Automotive Retail Management. In 1983, Bill Schwyhart also attended General Motors Institute in Detroit, Michigan, where he studied Automobile Dealership Management.

Originally known as General Motors Institute, the school changed its name to Kettering University in 1998 and began offering a wider range of educational degrees, including graduate programs. In 2017, U.S. News and World Report ranked Kettering University as 13th in the nation for its engineering program among non-PhD-granting programs, and 7th for its mechanical engineering program.

Kettering University is named for industrialist and inventor Charles Kettering (1876 – 1958), who was instrumental in the promotion of professional cooperative education. The school has attracted students who have gone on to be top producers in their respective fields, and continues to produce industry leaders around the world. The university strives to be a world-class leader in technological innovation.

Bill Schwyhart’s 1998 Acquisition of Pinnacle Point in Arkansas

Bill Schwyhart

Bill Schwyhart is a respected executive in the Arkansas entrepreneurial community and guides Pinnacle Hills as its founder and owner. He has overseen a number of high profile projects including the creation of Pinnacle Hills Promenade, and has also served as Finance Committee chairman with the Northwest Arkansas Regional Airport Authority. Bill Schwyhart’s career was featured in a 2001 edition of the Northwest Arkansas Business Journal.

As described in the article, Mr. Schwyhart’s life profoundly changed in September, 1998, when he got married and the next day leveraged two decades of success in the car dealership industry in inking his largest transaction ever.

The $5 million real estate acquisition was of Pinnacle Point in Rogers, Arkansas, and was the beginning of what turned into a $1 billion project spanning 600 acres of land just off Interstate 49. The purchase resulted in the development of retail shopping centers that have driven commercial growth throughout the four-state region.

Volkswagen World’s Top Auto Manufacturer for 2016

Volkswagen
Image: forbes.com

The founder and co-owner of development firm Pinnacle Hills in Rogers, Arkansas, Bill Schwyhart also had a successful career as an auto dealer. Through Hart Motor Co., Bill Schwyhart sold a number of vehicle brands including Volkswagen.

The German automaker Volkswagen grabbed the top spot as the world’s largest automobile manufacturer for 2016. While the first position had belonged to Toyota Motors for a number of years, Volkswagen produced 10,312,400 vehicles from January to December 2016, beating Toyota’s 10,213,486. The German automaker improved by 3.8 percent over its 2015 production output of 9,930,500 vehicles, despite the serious legal problems it faced over falsifying diesel engine emission figures.

Sales performance in the United States were very impressive, with Volkswagen of America, Inc., reporting 37,229 units delivered in December 2016, a 20.3 percent increase over December 2015 sales. Aside from the Volkswagen brand, the car company’s other global brands include Porsche and Audi.