IAN Lyn says he has invested US$500,000 ($51.4 million) in a certified pre-owned car dealership and car wash on Constant Spring Road in St Andrew, and has partnered with a Japanese firm to open a 300-car facility in Dunrobin.

The projects are being undertaken under the renowned automobile executive’s Carmax Jamaica brand.

Lyn most recently served as general manager of the new ATL Certified Pre-Owned Division, the first of its kind in Jamaica. He was hired by the company on a short-term contract to help its launch into the local market.

After leaving ATL Certified Pre-Owned, he said he decided to open a similarly modelled dealership on just under an acre of land at 124 Constant Spring Road — at the intersection of Charlton Avenue and Constant Spring Road.

“We are going to have our services department go through the car before it is sold,” Lyn said.

Additionally, Carmax Jamaica is installing a “state-of-the-art, quick-wash car wash” at the Constant Spring facility.

“For the first time in Jamaica, persons will be able to wash their car in a 10-minute span,” Lyn said. “If we don’t get the cars washed and completed in 10 minutes, then the wash is free.”

Some 25 persons are being employed temporarily through the project, of which 10 will remain on a permanent basis when it is completed in February, Lyn said.

What’s more is that Carmax has formed a joint venture with Japanese car supplier, Zulfiqar Motors Co to open a 300-car facility on 1.5 acres of land at 32 Dunrobin Avenue. That dealership will offer vehicles at “wholesale prices”, according to Lyn.

“Zulfiqar decided to partner with us to open the first 300-car facility at wholesale prices. Many of the cars that the used car dealers are bringing in, that they have to put a margin on, we will be selling for the invoice prices,” the businessman said.

A former president of the Jamaica Used Car Dealers Association, Lyn has had an extensive career in the auto industry, both locally and overseas. In addition to ATL Automotive, he has held down managerial positions locally at Issa Transport Group, New Line Motors and Kia Jamaica; and World Auto and Staluppi Group in New York, according to his company website.

Lyn formed Carmax Jamaica in April 2012. He recently relocated the used car dealership from Chelsea Avenue to the Constant Spring Road property.

He claimed that Carmax has outperformed its used car competitors and has enjoyed good business through sophisticated strategies. This development, he said, is a major factor behind his confidence in the local auto sales market despite the harsh economic conditions.

“We realise that people like the Carmax brand, as we are a used car operation with a new car mentality — the same type of professionalsm you will find at many of the new car dealership, you will find it at Carmax,” Lyn said.

“The strategy that we use in giving information to customers is what I have brought from the United States, where I have spent 17 years in the automotive industry,” he said.

According to Lyn, Carmax operates a turnover of 70 per cent, which basically means that it sells seven out of 10 cars within a 30-day span.

“We have observed other dealerships here that have hundreds of cars and have a turnover of 10 per cent on a 30-day cycle,” he noted.

Upon his departure from ATL last month, Lyn said he also took up a short -term consultancy in the US with Black Whole Entertainment, a provider of luxury service for the stars.

“I am just consulting them on purchasing 60 vehicles, in particular out of Europe,” Lyn revealed yesterday. “What we have done is purchased the Bentleys out of New York, where I have to go to next week to complete that deal… then I am going to fly to Germany to complete another deal.”