MITSUBISHI has today opened a pilot showroom in Geelong in partnership with dealer group Kings Cars as a trial for future shopping centre-based outlets.

The interactive showroom in Westfield Geelong, which has a long-term lease, is the first time Mitsubishi has been involved in the expanding shopping centre dealership concept in Australia.

Kings Cars owner and dealer principal Peter King said the new showroom was based on the company’s extensive research “into the way customers deal with us when buying a car”.

“We didn’t want to recreate a dealership experience in a shopping centre – we wanted to hand the reigns to the customer to give them the control to research, browse, test drive and even service their car in an environment that fits their needs,” he said.

He said that the new pilot store aims to provide customers with transparency around the retail process, creating an environment to give the customer information without the pressure created by the traditional automotive retail environment.

Mitsubishi Motors Australia CEO John Signoriello joined the owners Peter and Angela King to open the new showroom.

He said it was: “An exciting new direction which will give us the opportunity to explore new ways of interacting with customers.

“This pilot store will allow us to take the Mitsubishi brand to the people and give us access to a wider more diverse audience in a more relaxed retail environment,” he said.

“We aim to incorporate and test new technology, studying new operational models and use this experience to develop our existing and future network to better serve our customers.”

---

---

Mr King said Kings Cars Mitsubishi has successfully used this business model in its existing dealerships and has taken it one step further in the concept showroom.

“It is an easy and flexible alternative to buying and maintaining their car,” he said.

The Geelong Westfield showroom will allow customers to research the full range of Mitsubishi vehicles via an interactive vehicle showroom. They will be able to experience vehicles in virtual reality or test drive them from dedicated parking bays located near the showroom.

Existing owners can choose to have their vehicle maintained and serviced while they shop.

“Our showroom facilitators are not paid on commission,” Mr King said.

“They are simply there to help the customers and we will continue to measure our success by one simple rule – the customer must be satisfied.”

Kings Cars, which started in 2003, has sites in Geelong, Ballarat, Ararat and Hamilton and has five brands.

By Neil Dowling