Automotive Service Sales & Marketing
School of Transportation Technology
Parkes Automotive Technology Center, Room 133 · (570) 327-4516
Pennsylvania College of Technology's Automotive Service Sales and Marketing (AK) degree prepares students for a career in the following automotive service fields:
- sales
- marketing
- customer relations
- management
Students in this program spend their first year at Penn College learning the basics of either automotive technology or collision repair. The second year of the program is devoted primarily to marketing, business, and management courses. Second-year students also get a chance to put the management skills they are learning into practice during their internships in the live work labs in the automotive or collision repair programs.
This program was designed to allow students to move from the technician-oriented CR, AU, or AM programs into the management-oriented AK program (or vise versa) up until the end of their first year, with virtually all of their courses carrying into the new program. Occasionally, students in automotive technology or collision repair find that while they enjoy working in the field of automotive service, the "hands-on" repair work doesn’t have the appeal they thought it would. The AK program offers these individuals the opportunity to work in the field of automotive service in a management, marketing, sales, or customer relations position.
Automotive Service Sales & Marketing News
Automotive Department Taking Appointments for Campus-Supplied Lab Work
October 2008
Research Vehicles Spark Attention at NACAT Conference
July 2008
The automobile industry's future, of keen interest to the automotive teachers mentoring tomorrow's vehicle technicians, is today's reality at Penn College. The North American Council of Automotive Instructors, holding its 35th annual conference on campus, heard presentations Tuesday on vehicles that use technology to reduce petroleum dependency and greenhouse-gas emissions. Toyota brought along a prototype fuel-cell vehicle, which attracted considerable attention (and some willing test-drivers) from attendees and the media alike. Also on hand was The Pennsylvania State University's EcoCAR research vehicle, which gives engineering students the opportunity to design and build cars that demonstrate leading-edge technologies, with the goal of minimizing the environmental impact of personal transportation. Among the visitors was WNEP's Norm Jones, whose report on the Toyota vehicle aired at 5:30 Tuesday evening. Additional coverage, including his interviews with conference organizers and attendees, tentatively was to broadcast later in the day. The Williamsport Sun-Gazette also published an article about the car on the front page of Wednesday's editions.Keynoter Kicks Off Automotive Conference
July 2008
Technology and straight-from-the-headlines topicality combine with socializing and sightseeing at this week's
35th annual conference of the North American Council of Automotive Teachers being hosted at Penn College. More than 200 instructors registered for the event, which began Monday morning with elections and a keynote address in the college's Klump Academic Center. David Ganss, a technology adviser specializing in advanced vehicle propulsion technologies in the Transportation and Climate Division of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of Transportation and Air Quality, offered the opening speech, "The Future Is Here: Trends in Transportation Technology, Energy and the Environment." Outlining the push for research spurred by $4-a-gallon gasoline and efficiency standards, Ganss detailed a three-pronged solution of technology, alternative fuels and changes in motorists' habits: "In short," he said, "better cars, better fuels and better drivers." The presentation was attended by Williamsport Sun-Gazette reporter Heather Gach and photographer Craig McKibben, whose front-page coverage appeared in Tuesday's editions. WBRE-TV's Jeremy Deebel also visited campus in conjunction with the NACAT conference; his report aired Monday evening.Penn College to Host International Event for Automotive Teachers
July 2008
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'Fuel Cell Challenge' Grows in Popularity
May 2008
Students from 12 high schools – triple the number on hand for last year's inaugural event – gathered on campus Tuesday for the second annual Fuel Cell Challenge, piloting vehicles powered by the separation of water into hydrogen and oxygen. Students took a written exam, then put their fuel-cell-powered vehicles through a battery of seven performance tests in the college’s Field House: engineering design, artistic design, fastest car, hill climb, load pull, fuel management and longest distance. A crosscurricular assortment of faculty judged the various competitions, which attracted students from Easton Area, Hamburg Area, Liberty, Middletown, New Oxford, Northern Lebanon, Plum, Pottsville Area, Wallenpaupack Area and Williamson high schools, as well as the Warren County Career Center and the Jefferson County-DuBois Area Vocational-Technical School.