Selling cars today is no longer plain business. It's art. Showrooms are boutiques, and buying a car is essentially an experience. fyi walks the red carpet at new-age dealerships
Selling cars today is no longer plain business. It's art. Showrooms are boutiques, and buying a car is essentially an experience.u00a0FYI walks the red carpet at new-age dealerships
In an industry where perception is everything, luxury car dealers are spending big to win your confidence, splashing out on presentation, staff expertise, espresso machines and purpose-built showrooms bathed with mood-lighting. Where once a car showroom comprised drab walls and still cars, the trend is now towards making a car purchase a lifestyle experience.
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The Audi showroom at Worli in Mumbai spans 6,150 sq. ft. and has used German furniture, Japanese lighting, Australian flooring and Italian tiling |
Grab a sandwich while you choose a carTop global players Audi, BMW, Lamborghini, Porsche and Jaguar have all set up showrooms in India. The latest in line is Toyota Kirloskar Motor that has opened a new Shinrai Toyota outlet at Nariman Point. The 3,800 sq. ft.
facility is based on the latest DIVA facility concept, showcasing advanced features and systems of the Toyota brand in an inviting ambience, complete with a car accessories display, cafu00c3u00a9 counter and customer lounge.
Boutique showrooms with flat screen TVs Dealers are waking up to the fact that car buying is a family decision. Says Varun Somani, managing director, Shinrai Toyota: "Besides capturing the corporate sales of the business district, being a part of a mall will also allow us to get significant retail traffic of families, especially during the weekends."
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The Shinrai Toyota outlet is located in a mall and is based on the latest DIVA facility concept, showcasing advanced features and systems of the brand in an inviting ambience, complete with a car accessories display, cafu00c3u00a9 counter and customer lounge. |
Meanwhile, Skoda plans to open 10 "boutique" showrooms in Indian cosmopolitan cities by 2010. Located at Connaught Place in New Delhi, Skoda's first boutique showroom is spread across 12,000 sq. ft. Says Ashutosh Dixit, Skoda Auto India senior general manager (sales & network development), "The boutique showrooms will have state-of-the-art touch points which encompass the entire range of mobility solutions for the customer.
The boutiques are based on the exhibition format the company has adopted worldwide white walls, movies on the company running on flat-screen television sets, company merchandise such as car models, hats and key chains for sale.
According to Hormazd Sorabjee, Editor, Autocar India, this is only the beginning. "In the future, car showrooms will get bigger with enough space for test-drive tracks and sales-spares-service all under one roof." Like the new Audi showroom at Worli in Mumbai. The auto giant has used German furniture, Japanese lighting, Australian flooring and Italian tiling to make the 6,150 sq. ft. showroom world-class. With 40 employees manning the sales and service fronts, it is a one-stop-shop.
