THE Jowett Motor Group (JMG) will open Australia’s 44th BMW dealership next year with a multimillion-dollar, purpose-built complex on the Princes Highway at Berwick in Melbourne’s outer south-east.

It is JMG’s second BMW dealership after opening Waverley BMW in 2013.

Waverley BMW dealer principal Brett Jakes, who will also oversee Berwick, said the timing of the dealership launch was perfect.

“BMW has an excellent product line-up and it’s all changed over the past year or two, plus there’s new product coming in next year. There’s a lot of good vehicles there and the brand is well positioned for growth,” he said.

“We’re confident we can get very good business out of Berwick. The new dealership will have a large service workshop with the potential for about 20 hoists. We may not use those initially but we see growth in servicing in the near future.

“We see the need for strong service and used-car sales as the business builds its new-car clientele.

“On our estimates, Berwick will comfortably get 20 cars through a day for servicing. Eventually Berwick will be up to Waverley’s workshop numbers of about 70 a day,” Mr Jakes said.

JMG plans a brand-new showroom and service complex on land bought specifically for the dealership, close to Berwick Toyota. There is an existing building on the site that is now being demolished.

The new dealership has been designed to showcase 40 new vehicles and 40 used vehicles. It has an accent on customer parking and a large service workshop and surrounds.

Mr Jakes said the building, which is expected to be completed midway through next year, is conservative in design and capital expenditure.

JMG founder and CEO Tony Jowett said the new dealership will “guarantee a first-class customer experience for our new customers as well as offering an alternate location for service and purchase for our current customers living in and around Berwick”.

“We want to be heavily involved in the local community supporting the people who we hope will be supporting us,” he said.

Berwick is within the same PMA as JMG’s BMW dealership at Waverley.

“It’s not an open point,” Mr Jakes said. “When Waverley was opened six years ago it was designed as the main BMW dealership. Now there is opportunity to expand the reach of that PMA by establishing at Berwick.”

Mr Jakes said the new dealership will employ about 30 people with some relocating from Waverley.

“Having existing staff move into the new dealership gives continuity of the JMG culture,” he said.

“We will also look at recruiting from about February next year. We have to ensure Waverley continues to perform well and, at the same time, ensure the key processes carry over to Berwick.

“If you take six or seven people from Waverley and transplant them to the new dealership we will be able to maintain the same business culture.”

Berwick BMW will employ a new general manager to oversee day-to-day management.

“We have a really good team of technicians and we have a strategy to maintain a large apprentice program,” Mr Jakes said.

“We also have some qualified technicians from the network, rather than from overseas. We haven’t had a problem with a shortage of technicians though we know it’s an industry problem.”

JMG was BMW’s first dealership appointment in 15 years when Waverley BMW opened in 2013. The addition of Berwick comes after steady growth at Waverley.

Mr Jakes has 25 years’ experience in the automotive industry, starting on the OEM side before moving into retail for the past 15 years. The latter includes eight years as a BMW dealer principal, including the last two years at Waverley.

By Neil Dowling