That’s why Butler Automotive Group is holding a series of New Car Owner Clinics.  The first will be held at Butler Kia (4950 Crater Lake Ave., Medford OR 97504) tomorrow evening.  We’ll have food and beverages, an array of valuable and useful raffle prizes and, best of all, the entire Butler Kia staff, from sales team to service techs, on hand to answer your questions and help you get to know your new Kia inside out and backwards.

The clinic’s open to owners who purchased a 2011-2012 Kia (just be sure to RSVP to customersfirst@butlerman.com by the end of business the day before the event so we can be ready for you!)  Whether it’s learning how to work Kia’s UVO Powered by Microsoft Infotainment System, getting help synching your phone with the Bluetooth Wireless Technology, getting familiar with driving using Electronic Brake Assist, or putting the flat tire kit (which no longer requires a spare tire) to use, we’ll be there to help.  Bring your questions, your curiosity, your appetite and your enthusiasm!  We hope to see you there!

The Grand Vitara, which is available in 4-wheel drive, is popular among RVers because it can be flat-towed, that is, towed with all four wheels on the ground, without racking up odometer miles.  The fact that it gets an estimated 26 mpg on the highway once unhooked from the RV doesn’t hurt, either.  Suzuki calls the Vitara an “all access pass to planet Earth.”  Basically, it goes everywhere your RV can’t.

So, while, the good news is we can now offer 2012 Suzuki Grand Vitaras, the bad news is we only have *two* of them.  But that’s two more than yesterday.  And two more RVs that’ll soon be sporting the must-have tow-behind car of the season.

From “Who Do You Think You Are?“:  “Rock star and activist John Butler is searching for his heritage hoping to find poets, musicians and revolutionaries. In “Who Do You Think You Are?” he traces the Butler name back through generations of hardship to a matriarch who sang for her survival. Then he follows his Bulgarian ancestry to the mountain town of Koprivshtitsa and to an ancestor caught up in a violent revolt, central to the birth of a nation.”

Huge thanks are in order!  Thank you to all who voted for Butler Auto Group and its employees for the January 19^th “2012 Best of Ashland” edition of the Ashland Sneak Preview!  It is with great pride that we pass on the results.  Butler founder and owner, Chuck Butler, made the list of “Most Community Involved Businessperson[s]” (to see just how involved the Butlers are visit http://butlerautogroup.wordpress.com/butler-supports-the-community/).  Butler Ford sales consultant, Rocky Moore, took home the prize for “Favorite Car Salesman”, a list also populated by Butler’s General Sales Manager, Bill Shevlin.  Congratulations, guys!

Last month’s Ashland Sneak Preview marked the 22nd running of “The Best of Ashland”.  The publication reports 401 ballots were cast.  Given the quality of business in the Ashland area, we are honored to have three members of the Butler “family” in the top results.  Honored… and doing what we can to better our showing in the 2013 edition.

This is a party of grand proportions.  Automaker executives will mingle with representatives from 20,000 new-car dealers.  And that doesn’t even include the exhibitors.  More than 570 companies from 36 countries will compete to pitch their wares.

The NADA Convention is all about the future:  sales, marketing, products.  Dealers can choose from more than 100 workshops to help better their business, learn about trends, and discuss policy issues.  The event will culminate Monday, February 6^th with a keynote address on proposed fuel economy standards delivered by incoming NADA Chairman William P. Underriner.

Although a handful of Butler representatives are attending, not everyone who wanted to go could make it (and by “everyone” I mean me… for many reasons, not the least of which is that the Inspirational Message will be delivered by mountain climber and subject of the movie “127 Hours” Aron Ralston).  But that’s okay.  You can bet the event and all its happenings will be well documented on-line and in print, if not on broadcast media.  This is one case in which what happens in Vegas most definitely will not stay there.

But online insurance quote provider 4autoinsurancequote.org says this is one contest men claim title to, whether they want the dishonor or not.  In a study called “Women are Bad Drivers: Fact or Fiction?” the organization compared traffic violations, accidents, and insurance statistics and prices from 2007.  According to the numbers, an overwhelming percentage of serious to fatal accidents were caused by male drivers: 6 million to 4.4 million.  The Y-chromosomes also racked up considerably more DUI’s and other traffic violations.

On the other hand… The study says men drove more miles than women.  And comments logged after the study was published online question whether the accident figures were accurate given that so many fender benders, or wrecks on private property, may not have been reported.  It should also be noted that all bad drivers do not cause accidents or draw the attention of police.

Either way, unless you’re selling insurance, the study’s asking the wrong question.  With more than 10 million auto accidents recorded in just 365 days, it seems the real issue is how to convince *both sexes* to pay better attention.

To read the original article:  http://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/local/Women-are-Better-Drivers-Than-Men-Study-137202638.html