Carl Chevrolet was founded by Ankeny industrialist Carl Moyer, who passed away on Saturday.
Raised on the east side of Des Moines after dropping out of East High School in his tenth year, Moyer began his career in business as a salesman at a gas station near Lincoln High School.
He was hired by the Cedar Falls dealership as a sales manager when he was 19. After moving back to central Iowa, he worked for the West Des Moines and Winterset dealerships before opening his own in Ankeny.
To start Carl Chevrolet, a single-car dealership in Ankeny, Moyer bought out his brother in 1978.
“I didn't have an employee,” Moyer told the Register in 2003 when Chevrolet presented him with the Jack Smith's Distinguished President's Award. “I had nothing to sell – a car. There is a Chevy emblem on my building.”
In 1983, Carl Chevrolet moved to its current location at the intersection of Ankeny Boulevard and Orlabour Road.
According to a news release from the dealership that announced his passing, Moyer was very meticulous in the dealership's grounds, making sure that they were properly maintained and that the cars were arranged accurately.
In addition, he put the customer's needs first, coining the term “your dealer for life”.
The dealership says this strategy has allowed it to remain in the top 3% of all Chevrolet dealers. In addition, Carl Chevy has been recognized as the Best Authorized General Motors Used Car Dealership 13 times.
Over the past eight years or more, Moyer has expanded the company considerably, the press release said. His automotive group employs about 800 people in ten different factories in Iowa.
He became famous for his contribution and service to his community. In order to renovate and expand what is now known as the Carl's Automotive Technology Center, Moyer donated $1 million to Des Moines Area Community College in 2018.
Additional donations were made to Variety – Children's Charity of Iowa, Ankeny YMCA, Kiwanis Miracle Park Project in Ankeny, and Ankeny SummerFest.
The 83-year-old Moyer is survived by his daughter Pam, sons Brad and Brett and his wife Penny. No one has revealed the cause of death. Funeral plans are still being made.
