Autoplexes on fast track to gaining new tenants

Northern Colorado auto dealers are revving up for moves this fall to two auto malls on major highways just a few miles apart.

Champion Chevrolet will have a soft opening Oct. 10 at the new 61-acre Iron Mountain Autoplex at U.S. Highway 34 and Weld County Road 17. Champion Chrysler Jeep Dodge is expected to relocate to the site from Greeley by Nov. 1 and Champion Kia should be open in March.

Four Loveland dealerships will relocate in coming months to the 100-acre Motorplex at Centerra. Ferrero I-25 Dodge Jeep Chrysler should be open for business around Thanksgiving as will King Buick Pontiac GMC. Davidson Subaru will open in mid- to late December and Davidson Chevrolet is targeted for a mid- to late February debut.

SPONSORED CONTENT

The many benefits of simple, coordinated healthcare

Kaiser Permanente combines health care and coverage in one connected system to maximize employee health and minimize employer costs.

They join Co’s BMW, which has been the sole dealership at the Motorplex since November 2005.

Relocating to an autoplex has always been part of the business plan since Champion Auto Group purchased the Chevy dealership in Windsor three and a half years ago, said CEO John Chamberlain. “The reason is the direction of the industry. It’s more efficient when the cost of doing business goes down when you consolidate. On the consumer side, they’ll have more services competitively priced and the selection is much greater.”

Convenience factors into the equation as well. “People care about their time almost as much as money. Expectations of customers have gone up in the last decade in regard to the purchase experience and service experience.”

Amenities – playgrounds, wireless Internet, coffee bars, shuttle service to nearby shopping – “differentiate you from the competition if you offer amenities without increasing the cost of doing business,” he added.

Chamberlain projects a 15 to 20 percent increase in sales of Chrysler Jeep Dodge vehicles after the relocation from Greeley and 35 to 40 percent in Chevrolet sales.

Not overly optimistic

Such projections may seem overly optimistic, but not if you talk to Christina Dawkins, dealer principal at Co’s BMW, who saw substantial sales increases when the luxury car dealer relocated from Fort Collins to Motorplex at Centerra last year.

Great visibility off I-25 and consumers opting for cars over gas-guzzling pickups and SUVs helped Co’s post a 37 percent increase in sales of new vehicles and a 70 percent increase on used. “The size of our facility makes a big difference. We can display more vehicles,” Dawkins said. At 150, that’s more than double the previous location.

She’s looking forward to getting neighbors. “It will become more of a destination. We’ll get other shoppers who wouldn’t come here otherwise.”

Joe Gebhardt, vice president and general manager of Davidson Auto Group, agreed that auto malls provide a good situation for consumers to have dealerships close to one another.

But is it an oversaturated market? Gebhardt thinks so. “There are nine GM dealers in Northern Colorado, but only three Toyota dealers and three Honda dealers. There’s some challenges. It is what it is and we have to make the most of it.”

He added, “What we have to do is provide the absolute best experience in sales and service. If we do that, people will come to visit us.”

Ryan Ferrero said the new facility will allow his dealership to have customer features “we’ve never been able to provide before,” He added, “This is a great grouping of dealers. They’re all onsite owners, very personable, grassroots people. This gives us the foundation to do something great.”

Relocating is bittersweet for Ferrero, who recalls growing up on the car lot. “I skateboarded around the drain in the service department, I learned to drive on the lot.”

But 99 percent of his customers are glad they’re making the change, he said.

Part of regional plan

The Motorplex fits in with Centerra’s overall scheme as a regional shopping/retail/business center, said Rex King, co-owner of King Buick Pontiac GMC and King Subaru. “We are in a growth area, and we’ll be more of a regional dealer.”

For those having vehicles serviced, King and the other dealers will offer shuttles to the retail shops of Centerra and Promenade as well as back to west Loveland.

Other auto dealers in Northern Colorado appear nonplussed by the large autoplexes and the impending hoopla that will accompany their grand openings.

“We don’t foresee any big changes at all,´ said Steve Dellenbach, general manager at Dellenbach Chevrolet in Fort Collins. “We’re staying right where we are. We have a good customer base and a lot of loyal customers. We’ll keep doing what we’ve done – treat people the way we’ve treated them in the past. It seems like what we’ve done has worked.”

John Carroll, vice president and general manager at Ed Carroll Motor Co. in Fort Collins, said the new auto malls won’t have an impact. “They’re quite a ways from the Fort Collins market. We have a two-mile strip on College Avenue with every dealer represented. It’s easier to come here and look at multiple brands. There is more dealership density here in Fort Collins.”

And from a service standpoint, Carroll said he expects car owners will opt for the convenience of having their cars serviced closer to their homes or work.