DDi - February/March 2012 - (Page 45)

| 45 Auto drive By Mark Faithfull Mercedes-Benz shifts the luxury car-buying experience into high gear in Canada The new Mercedes-Benz showroom in Burlington, Ontario, Canada. he car-buying experience and car dealerships themselves, for that matter, don’t exactly have a good reputation among consumers. The process is often seen as daunting and less than pleasurable. But, Quantum Automotive Group aims to change all that by taking the dealership concept into the luxury arena with its latest Mercedes-Benz showroom in Canada. Located in Burlington, Ontario, Canada— which occupies a high-profile position on the Queen Elizabeth Expressway connecting Niagara Falls with Toronto—the new showroom elevates the dealership concept to another level. Here, it is just as much about the buying experience as it is about the eventual purchase (much like buying a Burberry coat, Prada bag or other luxury good). “The luxury retail concept was very much what Quantum had in mind,” says Nick Giammarco, partner at Montreal-based design agency GH+A. “If you think about all the excitement and glamour generated by the big international car shows, the act of actually going and buying an automobile can be a bit of a letdown. We wanted to change that and elevate the buying experience.” Set over two floors and a mezzanine, the 63,000-sq.-ft. Burlington showroom is all about confounding expectations. An imposing, circular glass structure with a projecting, inclined entrance hallway makes the dealership architecturally appreciable, even from a distance. In addition to an auto showroom and maintenance garage, Burlington includes a host of against-the-norm, pampering extras. It boasts a nail salon, a virtual golf range, an Italian café operated by a local restaurant and a screening area that relays not just Mercedes-Benz footage, but also, for example, Formula One grand prix racing. “The whole idea of the environment is that it’s a place for everyone,” Giammarco says. “So, while there are customers actively looking to buy a new car, there are also people simply there to watch the racing, or to pop in and buy Mercedesbranded products. And all those people should feel equally welcome.” Car models are featured along what GH+A Senior Associate Julie Dugas describes as the “automobile version of a fashion runway,” with new cars leading the way towards a concierge, whose job is “not to be a gatekeeper, but to direct people to the right part of the dealership.” At the heart of the interior is the Mercedes-Benz “clock tower,” which acts as the central anchor of the www.ddionline.com T http://www.ddionline.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of DDi - February/March 2012

DDi - February/March 2012

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