Maddington Toyota, part of the DVG Group founded by the seven Divirgilio brothers who started in Perth in 1992, has become Australia’s latest Toyota showroom after a $7 million development.
DVG is now 67 per cent owned by Japanese auction and used-car specialist IDOM, previously known as Gulliver International. Two of the Divirgilio brothers, Lou and Michael, remain on the board. The corner block on Albany Highway and Kelvin Road in Maddington, 22km south-east of Perth’s CBD, was previously known as Prosser Toyota. It was bought by the brothers in 2008 along with Midland Toyota and a satellite sales and service centre in the (then) greenfields southern suburb of Canning Vale.
The site covers 2471 square metres and has an eight-vehicle, 883 square meters showroom with room for an additional 100 cars around the main building.
The 18-bay workshop has been designed to cater for growth and works in conjunction with 15 technicians who work remotely servicing contracts including the Argyle Diamond vehicle fleet. There is also a separate pre-delivery and secondary workshop with six technicians.
Dealer principal Michael Divirgilio said the original Prosser Toyota site in Gosnells had become a used-car centre for DVG under the Gulliver label. It adopts a similar business model to IDOM’s 500 auction and used-car outlets in Japan. A second Gulliver used-car outlet is being planned.
The development of Prosser Toyota reflects the foresight of the brothers. When purchased, it was on the same Albany Highway but in the neighbouring suburb of Gosnells which the brothers viewed as having a stagnant sales growth for cars.
Two years later, in 2010, it was moved to the current site, continuing the Prosser Toyota name. Mr Divirgilio said sales jumped immediately with the new location.
“It’s amazing what 1.6 kilometres can make to a business,” he said.
“We have had around 1500 annual sales and this year we expect to have 2000 or more.”
The Prosser Toyota building was removed and replaced on the site with a purpose-built Toyota showroom now carrying the Maddington Toyota name.
A similar forecast was made for Canning Vale that started as a satellite centre for DVG’s Prosser Toyota and has grown with the surrounding residential population to be a large stand-alone, fully-serviced dealership called Canning Vale Toyota.
DVG Automotive Group chief operating officer Tony Salerno said the Maddington Toyota premises were operating from a high-profile location with more than 125,000 vehicles moving through the area every week.
“We’re right at a busy intersection with traffic from Tonkin Highway using Kelvin Road to travel to Thornlie, Canning Vale and Huntingdale; and Albany Highway being a major route from the city for people travelling to Armadale and onto the south west,” Mr Salerno said.
Prosser Toyota, which precedes Maddington Toyota, was started in 1965 by Noel Prosser and was one of the earliest Toyota dealerships in WA.
By Neil Dowling
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