SUPERCAR marque McLaren says the appointment last year of its first Australian standalone dealership, in Melbourne, was confirmation of its belief in its strengthening presence in Australia.

McLaren Automotive Asia-Pacific regional manager David McIntyre told GoAutoNews Premium this month that the car-maker was ready to move into an exclusive space of its own following increasing demand for the British supercar-maker Down Under.

McLaren has sold six cars this year ending February, compared with no sales for the same period in 2015. It ended 2015 with 36 sales. Prices range from $325,000 to $616,250 plus onroad costs.

The British brand recently took its Australian dealership tally to three when McLaren Gold Coast opened for business under the direction of Sunshine Automotive group.

With the appointment of Sunshine Automotive late last year and the launch of new models to take the inventory to seven, McLaren is forecasting to double sales in 2016.

Until now, all three Australian McLaren dealerships have operated as part of a multi-franchise model, sharing showroom space with other prestige and high-performance brands.

Now European brand specialist Zagame Automotive Group will cut the red tape on its McLaren dealership in Richmond in June, six months after acquiring the iconic British brand franchise from Inchcape’s Trivett Bespoke group.

Mr McIntyre said that with Zagame Automotive “we have an opportunity with a new partner who is willing to invest to support our business for the future”.

In an interview with GoAutoNews Premium last year, Zagame managing director Bobby Zagame said he had received approval by the three car manufacturers involved in the Trivett Bespoke acquisitions.

He is completing a four-storey showroom in Swan Street, Richmond, for Rolls-Royce and Aston Martin, and announced that another showroom, also in Richmond, will be opened in the middle of this year for McLaren.

Mr McIntyre said that it was his practice to mystery shop all the dealerships in his jurisdiction and that he had posed as a mystery shopper when evaluating Zagame as a potential franchisee.

He said that the existing network of Melbourne locations had passed the test.

“When we went through a due diligence process I actually came and did a mystery shop,” he said.

“I walked through all his showrooms and I got a very good impression in all of them. I was confident this was a partner we could work with here in Melbourne.

“For McLaren it will be a significant showroom.”

Zagame currently sells McLaren at its temporary showroom on City Road in Melbourne’s Southbank.

Mr McIntyre said that the City Road dealership had been a “temporary solution” while the company established the brand’s potential in Australia.

“The current facility is a shared showroom space and we have a designated space within that showroom, but we will have a standalone showroom from June in the new location,” he said.

“When the business was set up here, it wasn’t clear what the market potential would be, so effectively the showroom we are in now was a temporary solution.”

Dealerships and/or service centres for Adelaide and in Western Australia are still under consideration.

By Daniel Gardner and Neil Dowling