, in part because the Texas Hill Country’s two-lane blacktops were ideal for showing off the vehicles’ smooth handling. After months of planning and enormous expenditures, the automaker sent the first wave of SUVs to an off-road site, not realizing the people living there would object. The automaker asked the hotel’s senior concierge, Tommy Dean, for help; he jumped into an SUV and drove it to the house of the chief protestor. Dean said he spent the entire day in the man’s home, “listening, empathizing, begging, agreeing. I concocted a scenario in which the automaker would help the neighborhood upgrade its roads and install street signs if it could just let the launch proceed for the next few days. It worked, he agreed, and everybody was happy.” For more information: Four Seasons Hotel Austin