Topic: New BMW dealership in Kingston, Ontario

[ElectricMayhem]

It seems that someone is building a BMW dealership in Kingston, a few hundred yards from Benz/Volvo, less than 5 km from Audi, Lexus, and Subaru.  Hammer group?

[blur911]

It seems that someone is building a BMW dealership in Kingston, a few hundred yards from Benz/Volvo, less than 5 km from Audi, Lexus, and Subaru.  Hammer group?

Different owners for all those dealers AFAIK.

BTW, Kingston had a BMW dealer years ago (Performance Imports) but they lost/gave-up the dealership.  A few years ago they lost the Subaru dealership and were left with Suzuki....

[ElectricMayhem]

Volvo and Benz have the same owner.  I have heard that the Benz dealership has been on the market for many years, but all the prospective buyers want a waiver from Benz on the number of off-brand cars on the lot, and so far nobody has been successful in getting it.

Hammer group is the original Canadian BMW importer, was just wondering if they are the ones building the new glass palace.  I believe Performance Imports gave up their franchise because they were mandated to build a glass palace, and they did not think they would ever recoup the investment.

I do not think that all these upmarket marques can survive given the size of the market, which is not much bigger than 100k excluding the students.  Hell, not all the non-upmarket operations are surviving - the Nissan dealer is so desperate that he has opened another storefront just to sell other brands (used).

[blur911]

Volvo and Benz have the same owner.  I have heard that the Benz dealership has been on the market for many years, but all the prospective buyers want a waiver from Benz on the number of off-brand cars on the lot, and so far nobody has been successful in getting it.

Hammer group is the original Canadian BMW importer, was just wondering if they are the ones building the new glass palace.  I believe Performance Imports gave up their franchise because they were mandated to build a glass palace, and they did not think they would ever recoup the investment.

I do not think that all these upmarket marques can survive given the size of the market, which is not much bigger than 100k excluding the students.  Hell, not all the non-upmarket operations are surviving - the Nissan dealer is so desperate that he has opened another storefront just to sell other brands (used).

The Volvo and Benz were at the same dealer, but then Benz made them separate, forgot about that.

Dunno who is doing the new BMW dealership.  Hopefully they are enthusiasts.

The Nissan dealer has been taken over by the original owner's sons who seem to be trying to run it out of business.   If you want good service on your Nissan go to GoFAR (Glen Foote Auto Repair) on Midland.  He is an award winning Nissan tech that recently opened his own shop when things started going wacky at the dealer.

Also, since you're in Kingston, check out my club:  http://stlac.ca/

[The Mighty Duck]

I do not think that all these upmarket marques can survive given the size of the market, which is not much bigger than 100k excluding the students.  Hell, not all the non-upmarket operations are surviving - the Nissan dealer is so desperate that he has opened another storefront just to sell other brands (used).

That doesn't surprise me. Outside of the 370Z, what does Nissan have that's even remotely exciting or competitive?

I always found it odd Kingston didn't have a BMW dealer. It's a good sized city by Canadian standards. But I guess outside of the downtown area, it's not really a German-car kind of place...

[sailor723]

I do not think that all these upmarket marques can survive given the size of the market, which is not much bigger than 100k excluding the students.  Hell, not all the non-upmarket operations are surviving - the Nissan dealer is so desperate that he has opened another storefront just to sell other brands (used).

That doesn't surprise me. Outside of the 370Z, what does Nissan have that's even remotely exciting or competitive?

I always found it odd Kingston didn't have a BMW dealer. It's a good sized city by Canadian standards. But I guess outside of the downtown area, it's not really a German-car kind of place...

I image it's tough for the luxury brands to make a store go in a city that size. The dealers in Saint John probably draw on a population of 150k or so. There seems to be an unwritten rule among the high end makes that they will only have one store in our province. SJ has Lexus and MB while Moncton has Acura,BMW and Audi. Volvo is in Fredericton. At least that way they can sell into the other two cities in a 100-150 kilometer radius.