Yark Automotive Group’s BMW store will be on the move early next year to a new facility about two miles west of the current location on the Central Avenue Strip.
The Toledo-based dealership just recently broke ground on the project, which falls in line with a larger effort from the German automaker to revamp its dealership image and experience.
“It’s going to be more contemporary. It’s going to be more airy, it’ll have higher ceilings. We’ll have expanded service capacity. The service department is going to really, really be beautiful,” said John Yark, owner of the Yark Automotive Group.
Yark BMW is in an older building that’s sandwiched between Yark’s Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram store and Jim White Toyota. The new location, 7600 W. Central Ave., will put it across the street from Jim White Lexus.
“The facility we’re in now is still a very nice facility, but it was converted from a Nissan dealership in the late ’90s to the BMW facility and at that point there wasn’t a template for BMW.”
Today, BMW wants a sleek modern look that’s more inviting and comfortable for customers while also cultivating a more luxurious image.
Automotive News reported last year that BMW wants all of its 339 U.S. dealers to make the upgrades by 2019. The trade publication also said executives with BMW of North America said the total cost to dealers was expected to be in the range of $500 million.
Mr. Yark did not say what his company is investing in the new 34,000-square-foot building.
BMW was the No. 2 luxury brand in America behind Mercedes-Benz last year, selling about 346,000 vehicles.
However, BMW is somewhat late to the game with its current effort to standardize its dealerships.
Mr. Yark said the BMW store is the only one of the group’s dealerships that hasn’t already been updated to new standards.
The most recent was Yark’s Chevrolet dealership in Whitehouse, which underwent a $1 million remodel in 2012.
Mr. Yark said the current BMW dealership will likely be repurposed as part of the Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram franchise, which is bursting at the seams.
Originally built as an Oldsmobile dealership in 1971, the facility was designed to sell about 1,000 cars a year. Today, it’s doing about 7,000 vehicles a year out of the store.
“We really need the space,” Mr. Yark said.
Contact Tyrel Linkhorn at tlinkhorn@theblade.com or 419-724-6134.
First Published August 11, 2016, 4:00 a.m.
