A growing population and a dramatic increase in real estate prices over the last 20 years has witnessed many changes in Vancouver. For auto dealers servicing the metro area that has also meant looking at new locations as rents in the city rose. Today, the area around Terminal Avenue, just east of the city is becoming the new centre for automotive retailing with a number of new stores opening up in the area.
Recently, Canadian auto dealer reported that the Dilawri Group, currently Canada’s largest auto retailing consortium with 41 stores, is investing heavily in the area, constructing a brand new Porsche store which is scheduled to open next year, as part of a $75 million strategy which will see the group open no fewer than five new retail outlets in B.C. Once completed, the new Porsche store will feature an 18,000 sq.ft showroom and a service facility with 24 bays.
The Dilawri Group also purchased an old Aston Martin store nearby to build its second Audi franchise in B.C. This project, with an off-site service centre is expected to be completed in 2014. Mercedes-Benz Vancouver is also opening a new flagship store on Terminal Avenue, covering 165,000 sq.ft on a 3.0 acre site. Like Dilawri’s new Porsche franchise, this facility will incorporate charging stations for electric vehicles. Eventually, it will completely replace the Mercedes-Benz Vancouver store located on West Broadway, which originally opened back in 1976.
Besides these dealerships, Fiat of Vancouver also chose to locate its new flagship store on Terminal when the Italian brand returned to Canada (and the city) after an absence of almost three decades. There is also a full-line General Motors dealership (Dueck Downtown) on Terminal and a Ford store (Coastal) located on Evans Avenue, which runs parallel to Terminal.
As to why this area in particular is proving to be a haven for dealerships, besides lower rents than the downtown core itself, Terminal Avenue is also a major artery for the city as well as a thriving commercial area, providing new car auto retailers with a highly visible, prime location to sell and service vehicles. Additionally by locating on the Terminal corridor, it provides dealers with larger lots that can incorporate room for expansion while remaining well within reach of their targeted customer base, especially those in the market for boutique and higher end vehicles.
