Magna Motors Dealership Limited Jamaica celebrated its seventh year as dealers for the Hyundai line of automobiles by officially opening its Oxford Road showroom on Thursday, May 12.

“For me this is outstanding. We’ve created a statement in the country and I believe the people have been welcoming to what we have put together in this market and they’ve been supporting us, so I can say that I’m more than happy,” Erick Gutierrez, CEO of Magna Motors Dealership Limited, told the Jamaica Observer’s weekly Auto magazine.

The new showroom built at a cost of US$13 million was praised by Prime Minister Andrew Holness, who performed the ribbon cutting, as not only proof of foreign investment in the island, but its modern design.

“I’m always happy to see modern-looking buildings, letting in a lot of light, having transparency, and openness. I like this kind of architectural design. It does add value to the Oxford Road strip,” explained the prime minister.

The prime minister was one of the several officials in attendance which included Audley Shaw, minister of transport & mining, Angie Martinez Tejera, ambassador to Jamaica from the Dominican Republic, and Robert Hill, CEO of Kingston & St Andrew Municipal Corporation.

Gutierrez took the time to thank the Jamaican Government for their support over the past seven years.

“We look forward to continue serving and working with the Jamaican people and the Government,” he said.

His words were mirrored by Agustin Lama, board member and CEO of the Magna Motors Group.

“This launch marks a critical juncture for us, and we could not have made it this far without your support. Our achievements over the past seven years in Jamaica and our investment signals an even brighter future to come. So, I extend extreme gratitude to Jamaica, the Government and its people for being so welcome and supportive of our company,” added Lama.

Gutierrez explained that the new state-of-the-art facility sits on 2.52 acres of land, making it seven times larger than their two previous locations put together. Hyundai’s old showroom was originally located on Old Hope Road with their service centre on Balmoral Avenue. The compound contains a 12-car showroom, a service centre with 12 bays, a used vehicle department, a parts department and conveniences such as a kids’ zone. The construction was announced in 2018 to be completed in 2019; however, delays caused by the world wide global pandemic pushed the project out of schedule, taking a year and half to complete in total.

“We now boast an exquisite and comfortable showroom space to show off our modern premium designed vehicles and 12 servicing bays in our state-of-the-art facility, which has the capacity to serve up to 100 customers daily, giving us and increase in productivity of over 300 per cent,” said Gutierrez.

Gutierrez further indicated that the showroom was more than a building, but a signal to the Jamaican people that the Hyundai brand is here to stay.

“The showroom has created an environment where the people can come and enjoy, can come and trust that we came as a foreign company to stay, so we basically think this is first big step to go beyond where we are right now,” he said.

Gutierrez hinted that the brand is eyeing a similar presence on the western end of the island in the future.