TOYOTA Jamaica hopes to cement its lead as Jamaica’s number one new-vehicle dealer with the opening of its newest showroom at 93 Old Hope Road, Kingston.

   “Our Old Hope Road facility takes another bold step, fulfilling the promise to always deliver a superior customer experience,” Mick McGrane, branch manager, told Auto on a media tour on Wednesday.

   The Old Hope Road brand takes the number of Toyota facilities to three: Spanish Town Road headquarters and its Montego Bay office.

   McGrane, an Irish native with several years experience in the telecoms sector,

   hopes to bring a new outlook for the Jamaican automotive customer through the Toyota brand.

   The showroom represents a $400-million investment for which ground was broken last year January. Tom Conner, managing director — Toyota Jamaica, echoed similar statements at the start of construction.

   “It’s not all about car sales, but serving our existing customers,” said Connor.

   To this end the 26,000-sq ft facility offers 5,000 sq ft for new vehicle deliveries and over double that, 11,000 sq ft dedicated to its service workshop. This translates into 18 service bays.

   “The only thing we can’t handle here are our commercial clients and accident repairs. Those will continue to be dealt with at Spanish Town Road given the specialist tools and space requirements of those tasks,” McGrane explained.

   McGrane added that the new location sets the benchmark for Toyota Jamaica’s future with both a concentration on customer comfort and eco-friendliness. Solar panels power 100 per cent of the building during its daytime operations.

   “Quite a sizeable portion of our customers come from New Kingston and its environs. Currently, if you want to service your vehicle, you have to come all the way to Spanish Town Road, then get back to work, then come get your vehicle, then get back home. That’s very time-consuming. We want to make it easy for our customers,” Conner said when interviewed by Auto last year.

   McGrane said this has influenced the overall design as the building features a spacious open layout, with glass windows offering a plain view of the service bays. Waiting customers can take advantage of the Toyota Coffee House, the in house lounge offering a place to relax, eat, or to work. He explained that the lounge was equipped with Wi-Fi and would have a top class menu.

   “Right now, our staff is a mix of old and new, with fresh faces and experienced personnel drawn from the Spanish Town facility,” he said.