Something Easy to Deal With
A posh new dealership displaying the products of two of the world’s most prestigious auto makers in museum-like surroundings will open in Mission Viejo next year, escalating the competition among Southern California luxury car retailers to build the grandest showrooms on Earth.
Executives from Jaguar Cars and Aston Martin Lagonda of North America Inc. are scheduled to announce plans for the multimillion-dollar dealership and “auto spa” during today’s Newport Beach Concours d’Elegance classic car show.
The dealership, South Coast Motorcars, will be one of the first new-car retail facilities in the U.S. planned and built by car makers rather than by an independent dealer. Jaguar and Aston Martin--both owned by Ford Motor Co.--have even hired a personnel recruiting firm to find the dealership’s staff before turning the operation over to a dealer.
The move is part of a growing effort by car makers to take control of how their products are marketed and how the car buyer is treated.
“The auto makers believe they can do it better than the individual dealer-entrepreneur,” said industry consultant George Peterson, president of AutoPacific Group in Santa Ana. “There will be more and more of these experiments coming up as manufacturers fine-tune the sales process.”
The new dealership, to be built on the 3-acre site now occupied by Mercedes-Benz dealer Mission Viejo Imports, will feature cars that are priced from $55,000 to more than $150,000. They’ll be displayed in individualized diorama-like settings using garden backdrops outdoors and architectural settings in the showroom.
The facility will be “the prototype flagship dealership for Jaguar and Aston Martin in the U.S.,” said Lawrence E. Williams, Jaguar’s U.S. franchise development manager. It will feature a theatrically lighted “presentation stage” to show off customers’ new cars, a high-tech video wall that will let shoppers customize cars using life-size exterior and interior images, and luxury touches including valet parking, a reception lobby, a cafe and a custom car wash that will keep track of customer preferences by computer.
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In recent weeks, Mission Viejo Imports announced that it is building a $15-million dealership in Laguna Niguel next year, Buena Park Mercedes-Benz dealer House of Imports spent $3 million to rebuild and upgrade its showroom and sales facility, Bauer Jaguar in Anaheim said it is building a luxurious new facility in the Santa Ana Auto Mall, and Fletcher Jones Motorcars opened a 9-acre, $15-million facility in Newport Beach that it bills as the world’s largest Mercedes dealership, featuring a restaurant, putting green and display space for 300 cars.
The lavish dealerships are part of an industrywide effort to emulate shopper-friendly retailers by offering customers comfortable, sometimes luxurious surroundings in which to shop for cars.
Williams said the new South Coast Motorcars will “encourage browsing, like they do at Neiman Marcus or Nordstrom, so people never feel as if they have to be ready to buy something in order to go there.”
A preliminary purchase agreement with a prospective dealer-owner has been signed, Williams said, but the dealer essentially will be a consultant in developing the dealership. Williams would not identify the investor except to say he lives part of the year in south Orange County and owns a Jaguar dealership on the East Coast.
Personnel Solutions Inc., an Irvine-based personnel consulting firm, has been retained to help staff the dealership, which is being designed by Dennis J. Flynn Architects Inc. of Yorba Linda.
South Coast Motorcars will serve Jaguar customers in south Orange County and Newport Beach, leaving north and central Orange County to Bauer Jaguar, Williams said. The dealership’s Aston Martin franchise will cover all of Orange and San Diego counties, he said.
The new dealership will replace the defunct Newport Imports, which went bankrupt in 1994 after a string of business reversals.
“When that happened, our customer satisfaction and market penetration in this region fell,” Williams said. “We always intended to appoint a new south Orange County dealer.”
Williams said Jaguar and Aston Martin intend to solicit consumer input about the new dealership through their Web site (www.southcoastmotorcars.com) and at a series of public events, including today’s charity car show at the Pelican Hills Golf Club, before deciding on a final design.
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Opening in ’98
A Jaguar / Aston Martin dealership will be established at site now occupied by Mission Viejo Imports.
