Front row second from left, Nav Bhatia, President and CEO, Mississauga Hyundai, second from right, front row, Lawrence Hamilton, Executive Director, Genesis Motors Canada; back row middle, Don Romano, President and CEO, Hyundai Canada.
Benny Leung and Nav Bhatia, two longtime Toronto-area dealer principals, broke ground on March 31 on new stores under the Hyundai/Genesis banner.
Leung, President of Marsim Auto Group, will be opening a combined Genesis and Hyundai auto complex just north of Yorkdale Shopping Centre, one of the largest shopping centres in Canada, which averages 18 million visitors per year. Leung sells Hyundai, Genesis and Kia brands at his current location about 15 minutes south of Yorkdale. When the new location opens, he will only retail Kia at the other complex.
Don Romano, President and CEO, Hyundai Canada; and Benny Leung, President of Marsam Auto Group.
Leung bought the Yorkdale property more than three years ago and construction is scheduled to be completed by April, 2023. He told Canadian auto dealer that pending municipal approval, the complex will feature a tower that rings every hour, which he plans to call Big Benny.
“Today is a dream come true,” said the 69-year-old Hong Kong native, who began selling cars in Canada in 1981 and bought his first dealership in 1985, a Hyundai store in Oakville.
“Look at this piece of land. People have offered me $30 million to sell it,” said Leung, later adding that “Today is a very exciting day to start the first chapter. Maybe I can pass this along one day to my two children—Martina and Simona.”
Bhatia, known as the Toronto Raptors’ Superfan, will be building a Genesis store next door to his newly-renovated Hyundai dealership in Mississauga. The land where the Genesis store will be built used to be a Montessori school that his daughter Tia attended. Bhatia bought the property for more than $4 million a year ago. He opened a Genesis boutique at Square One Shopping Centre in Mississauga four years ago. The plan is for the standalone store to be finished by December, after which the boutique showroom will close.
Don Romano, President and CEO, Hyundai Canada; Nav Bhatia, President and CEO, Mississauga Hyundai
“I’m excited to build this independent Genesis store,” the 70-year-old native of India said. “It’s going to have its own service and parts department. It will be one of the best-serving stores in Canada.”
Bhatia said he also has plans to build a Genesis store in Oakville. He started with Hyundai as a salesman in 1984 and began working as a manager in 1988.
Don Romano, President and CEO of Hyundai Canada, said the two Genesis stores represent an evolution of the brand. “We are next to Hyundai for a reason. It allows us to leverage this new environment of digital sales and digital service,” he said.
