Charles Saillant
Groupe Saillant is going big with Volvo Ville de Québec.
Ground has been broken for a new multi-level, multi-purpose Volvo dealership in Quebec City that will be the manufacturer’s biggest rooftop in Canada. It is expected to be ready next March.
The current facility, which is roughly five kilometres east, is only 17,000 square feet. The new one will be more than 90,000 square feet, but only 50,000 square feet will be used for the actual building.
The added square footage is for underground parking for an additional 70-75 new cars, which will be available for test drives that can be done inside. It will also include space for detailing for the group’s Volvo, Toyota and Hyundai dealerships on the land it bought some 12 years ago, tire storage and parking for customers.
Groupe Saillant also retails Mazda and Polestar.
Co-President Charles Saillant told Canadian auto dealer it only took a couple of months after acquiring the Volvo dealership two years ago to realize more space was needed, especially on the service side.
“The potential was way bigger than what we thought,” said Saillant in an interview with Canadian auto dealer.
He also said all of the company’s administrative offices will be moved to the building.
The building will also include an atrium.
The service bays will expand from nine at the current location to 16.
“Architecturally, the building will be very much state of the art and very creative,” said Saillant. “Volvo accepted the concept. We are very grateful.”
“We’re proud to see Groupe Saillant continue to invest in the future of Volvo in Québec with this impressive new facility,” said Matt Girgis, Managing Director of Volvo Car Canada. “Their commitment reflects the strength of the Volvo brand and the confidence in our growing product portfolio. We value our partnership with Groupe Saillant and are excited for what this new store will bring for Volvo customers in the region.”
He said that over the last 10 years the company has either upgraded its existing dealerships or built new ones.
“Our dealerships are pretty big within each of their brands,” said Saillant. “To build a new facility is not something unusual for us. It’s just the growth of business and we have a reputation to protect. We always want our dealerships to be state of the art and modern.”
Saillant said the purchase of the Volvo dealership was more about venturing into the brand and diversifying the overall content the company retails than going into the luxury vehicle market.
“We are picky about (acquiring brands),” said Saillant. “Volvo hit all the marks. It’s a good complement to our product offering. The brands we have are Japanese and Korean. To add the European brand will be great.
“And also specifically, Volvo was poised for growth. They have a majority Chinese shareholder and obviously their ambition is pretty high. For us, the moment was just right to acquire that dealership.”
