Hyundai reveals new livery

World-wide rollout begins in local dealerships

By JOHN MELLOR

 

THE first Australian dealerships to adopt Hyundai’s new bronze and chrome international corporate identity have been rolled out in Sydney and Melbourne.

 

The main feature of the design is bronze aluminium composite panels with an anodised finish which reflect different shades of bronze in different light. The lettering is chrome. Dealers will also need to refurbish the showroom with a change to floor tiles and furniture.

 

The new dealership design is a complete breakaway from the white and blue that Hyundai retailers have been using for decades although it will not be adopted by Hyundai Motor Company which will stick to blue for its corporate branding.

 

An early adopter in Melbourne, leading Victorian Hyundai dealer, Paul Hopper, used what Hyundai calls its GDSI (global dealer space identity) for his new dealership in Werribee, a multi-level facility which was developed around a former Bunnings store.

 

The $4 million investment was to address a shortage of showroom space, car parking capacity and service capacity as a result of Hyundai’s recent sales growth.

 

In Sydney, the Phil Gilbert Motor Group adopted the new livery in a $4 million investment in a new Hyundai dealership with underground car parking in Parramatta Road, Croydon.

~ Showroom interior ~

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The main feature of the design is bronze aluminium composite panels with an anodised finish which reflect different shades of bronze in different light. The lettering is chrome.

“Our concentration will be on the dealers whose facilities are not big enough.  We have had massive growth and a lot of our dealerships are built for when we were doing 50,000 cars. We are now doing 100,000 cars. Obviously there are backend capacity issues that go with that as well,”

General manager, network development Phil Dingle

Hyundai Motor Company Australia general manager network development Phil Dingle told GoAuto that the latest design, which overrides a new CI adopted by some Hyundai dealers as recently as 2012, is to be rolled out in Australia over the next four years and brings to three the number of different Hyundai CI designs in this market.

 

Mr Dingle said that apart from dealerships completed since 2012, most Hyundai dealers in Australia were using a CI that was a decade old.

 

He said the cost of introducing the new identity and the rollout timetable would vary “on a case-by-case basis”.

 

“We will be looking at facilities to see which dealers comply and which dealers don’t.

 

“For example, Werribee was in a very old facility which was far too small for them and they knew they had to move. So they decided they could not continue to do business where they were.”

 

Mr Dingle said Paul Hopper was also planning to introduce the GDSI at his Hyundai dealership at Essendon Fields.

Preston Motors interpretation of the 2012 CI upgrade introduced in 2012.

Zupps Hyundai in Brisbane is one of the majority of Hyundai dealers still using a livery that is more than a decade old.

“When you do a brand-new facility the application is going to be easier.  Doing an upgrade will be harder because the full solution could be impossible to achieve.  You are going to have to find some hybrid solutions,” Mr Dingle said.

 

Apart from the bronze panels and chrome signage, dealers will have to update internally with new tiles on the floor and new furniture. The GDSI will run through to the service waiting area although running into the workshop may be difficult in a multi-brand service operation. The cost of upgrading a dealership which does not have to upgrade its footprint is estimated to be about $200,000.

 

The deadline for completion of the rollout is 2018.

 

“Our concentration will be on the dealers whose facilities are not big enough.  We have had massive growth and a lot of our dealerships are built for when we were doing 50,000 cars. We are now doing 100,000 cars. Obviously there are backend capacity issues that go with that as well,” Mr Dingle said.

Former Bunnings Warehouse was transformed into the new Werribee Hyundai (below) by leading Victorian dealer, Paul Hopper.

Werribee Hyundai was a $4 million investment to meet Hyundai's growing sales.

“So there are a lot of dealerships that need more space and quite a lot that have become old inside and need a refresh. So we are going to use this as a refresh opportunity. But the dealers who have just finished their dealerships will have a longer time scale because they have just done their CI. They are not the priorities for us.”

 

Mr Dingle said Australian dealers were told of the change in May last year and that Hyundai had been focused on getting the two pilot sites up and running. He said even the two pilot sites were not 100 per cent compliant because the GDSI was introduced after the builds had commenced.

 

Mr Dingle said it had been about 10 years since Hyundai last ran out a dealership identity program. A second design which had been rolled out worldwide was not introduced into Australia until 2012.

 

“So our old blue band has been out there for 10 years.  That has had a pretty long life.”