Aston Martin dealerships vault ahead Luxury automaker stresses elegance in new-look s - Ford Forums

Stacy94PGT · 10-14-2002, 09:42

By Mark Rechtin
Automotive News / October 14, 2002

Aston Martin's racy V12 Vanquish sells for $235,000.
Aston Martin wants dealerships to convey these key attributes to buyers.

PARIS -- The room is spare, an array of Le Corbusier chairs and couches scattered about the marble floor. Frosted glass and brushed metal accents abound. Elegant watches and jewelry pieces are displayed in small glass cases inset in the walls, which are adorned with swatches of paint and leather.

The racy, $235,000 V12 Vanquish sports car alone in the middle of the 1,000-square-foot room seems almost an afterthought.

But this is the new look of Aston Martin dealerships, where what is being sold is only slightly more important than the way in which it is sold. Executives want potential buyers - who shell out anywhere from $146,850 to $235,610 for an Aston Martin - to feel like they're in an expensive living room, not a showroom.

"I don't want an overloaded showroom. I want a private atmosphere that feels special," said Ulrich Bez, president of the Ford Motor Co. subsidiary.

"This is different from Chevrolet or Jaguar or anyone who sells even 100,000 cars a year. We want committed people to do this. I want to see that passion in the eyes of every dealer candidate I interview."

The first stores opened this summer in Europe and North America. In the United States, all 29 dealerships are expected to have the makeover within the next two years.

Dealers say they are eager to make the changes because volumes will rise with the arrival of the "affordable" Aston Martin AM305, which is expected to compete with the Porsche 911 and Ferrari 360. Aston Martin sold 1,506 units worldwide last year but expects volume to grow to 5,000 a year with the launch of the 305.

High-rent district
Here in Paris, the Aston Martin store is on the posh Avenue Franklin D. Roosevelt, just off the Champs Elysees in a neighborhood of high-end luxury-goods vendors. Neighbors include Gucci and Fendi.

Just as several journalists were being shown into the store during a visit to the recent Paris auto show, a couple was leaving. Executives said the pair had just placed a $50,000 deposit "on impulse" while walking down the avenue.

A set-up for the visiting reporters? Executives swore it wasn't.

Alain Aziza, dealer principal of the Paris store, was a dentist before deciding he wanted to sell Aston Martins. Building the showroom cost the equivalent of $600,000, he said, and rent in the posh "Golden Triangle" area of Paris is $15,000 a month. He estimates he has to sell 45 cars a year to break even.

'A great mystique'

In North America, more than two-thirds of Aston Martin dealers will be connected in some fashion with other brands - usually Jaguar.

Therein arises a challenge: How to make the Aston Martin customer feel special when Dodge heavy-duty trucks or Toyota Corollas may be sold at dealerships just around the corner or across the street. That's where savvy architecture comes in.

Already, stores in Tampa and San Diego have the initial entrance to the Aston Martin store come through a Jaguar dealership. But to gain access to the Aston Martin showroom, customers need to pass through a bank vault door - which often is locked.

"People love it. It gives the store a great mystique," said Rob Elder, general manager of Aston Martin of Tampa.

The dealership, which opened in January, cost $8 million for the land and construction of both Aston Martin and Jaguar showrooms.

But Elder said installing the Aston Martin signature pieces was a more modest $250,000.

The old-look Tampa store had sold four cars through August; but last month the dealership sold three Aston Martins and is on pace for a similar October, Elder said.

Elder predicts breakeven will come three years from now if he sells 15 cars a year, a number he is confident of hitting.

"People who once bought Ferraris are coming to us," Elder said. "We've sold to hockey players, plastic surgeons and entrepreneurs. It's a hot, wanted car."

No nose prints

John Stanhope, director of Cush Aston Martin in San Diego, said the bank vault design gives his recognizable clients the privacy they crave for such a purchase.

"You won't see the nose prints on the window, people rapping their fingers on it, saying, 'Hey, look who that is.' It's very, very private," Stanhope said.

"I've sold Mercedes, Cadillac, Jaguar and Lexus, but nobody has done luxury merchandising like Aston Martin is doing it."

As for service, Stanhope has a dedicated staff separate from the Jaguar showroom next door. But his customers will never see the back shop because Stanhope picks up and delivers customers' cars personally.

"I want my clients to think of the purchase and delivery as the last time they need to come here," Stanhope said. "I want them to think of me as their concierge."