The site at 112 Parramatta Road was previously Sutton’s GWM showroom and, previously, was home to brands including Nissan, Suzuki and Jeep and, earlier, Holden.

Sutton’s Homebush Mazda will occupy the 7000 square metre site that dates back to 1943. 

The dealership has been designed by BHI Architects. It is being extensively modified and renovated by McIntosh Constructions to incorporate sales, service and spare parts with the latest Mazda CI.

Suttons Holden Homebush Est. 1943

Sutton’s has appointed Michael Friend, who has 23 years of experience at Sutton’s, as the new Mazda dealerships dealer principal.

Mr Friend told GoAutoNews Premium that the site has an impressive 150m frontage.

“We will have a new car showroom of 16 vehicles and room for 60 used cars on the forecourt,” he said.

“It will have15 bays in the workshop plus a wash area and wheel alignment bay.

“The showroom and the service department will each have a customer lounge.

“We have redone the building, including everything in the workshop such as removing layers of old concrete flooring and replacing it. There are different levels of concrete added over the years since it was first built in the 1940s.“The roof was also removed and replaced so when the dealership opens, everything will be brand new.”

BHI Architects said that the Mazda showroom project involved the amalgamation of two adjacent car showrooms into a cohesive and integrated design that effectively highlighted the brand. 

“Adhering to the established corporate identity guidelines, our approach seamlessly applied these principles to the existing building, resulting in a unified dealership,” it said.

The changes to the building over the years were more recently triggered by the end of Sutton’s involvement with Honda when the OEM moved to an agency retail model and ceased relationships with many dealership groups.

Sutton’s then made it a multi-franchise location and moved in Nissan, Suzuki, Jeep and GWM (Great Wall Motors and Haval). 

Subsequently, Sutton’s was granted a Mazda franchise and moved Nissan, Jeep and GWM to other sites, and relinquished its Suzuki franchise. Sutton’s retains its Ford showroom across the road from the new Mazda site.

Mr Friend said staff – from sales, finance, parts, service and aftersales – will mainly come from other Sutton’s dealerships, many being long-standing employees who will move to the location.

The dealership will open on January 2, 2024.

By Neil Dowling