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A New Way to New-Car Shop

Mazda showrooms become customer comfort zones

Mazda is rolling out a "Retail Revolution," which John Mendel, Executive Vice President and COO of Mazda North America characterizes as "all about falling in love with cars." The auto industry, in the past, Mendel points out, has used the showroom to control the customer. "The deal has gotten in the way of falling in love with the vehicle," he said.

Car Amour

Lots of automakers are talking about how important the customer is, but Mazda has put a new wrinkle in the showroom. They are building new stand-alone dealerships, which blend high-tech architecture, a "drive center" and a salesman-free-zone called the cyber café. No other dealerships have an area verboten to the salesmen.

Mazda is taking a cue from the majority of its customers who, when surveyed, say they are drivers not commuters. The automaker is taking the dealership experience and turning the equation upside down, focusing on the vehicles and the customer before the deal. A move made easier by the strongest Mazda brand lineup in years.

The old stereotype that consumers would rather have a root canal than shop for a car is now old hat. Automotive Retailing Today, an industry research arm, reports that in 2002, 94 percent of the consumers they surveyed said they had a positive purchase experience. Part of that satisfaction comes from the power of the Internet. More and more consumers are thoroughly researching their perspective auto purchase before they hit the showroom. They know what they want and how much they want to pay and often already have financing in hand. Mazda wants to build on that savvy customer and speed up the process, but give the customers extended drive time in the vehicles and, as Mazda puts it, to put some Zoom-Zoom into the showroom.

Drive Center

As a customer arrives at a Mazda dealership, the first thing he or she sees is a glass tower where the new Mazda's are stacked one above the other under bright lights. An anchor element of the dealership is the neon-lit "Drive Center." Mendel says the first thing a customer will be offered when they arrive at the dealership is a 20-to-30 minute test drive over a course that each dealership creates. The drive route will motor through city traffic, out onto the freeway, and flow through curving roads and up hills to test all the aspects of Mazda's vehicles on the road. Each dealership has a set of vehicles used only for test drives. "Buying a car represents too great an investment to be based on a around-the-block test," said Mendel.

More than 70 percent of Mazda consumers spend nearly six hours on the Internet before making their purchase. Mazda wants to piggyback on that Internet search. Consumers can connect to the Mazda dealership through inventory searches, test drive reservations and service appointments. Realizing that consumers' time is constrained, they want to streamline the build-up to the showroom visit.

When they arrive at the dealership, customers can sip free coffee in the Cyber Café where they can also visit other automotive web sites to compare and contrast vehicles. They can view a Mazda vehicle on the Internet and customize it; they can surf for a better deal at web finance sites. To make the experience fun, video game stations featuring Mazda vehicles are also plugged in, as is a large plasma TV. The truly unique aspect of the Cyber Café is that it is a "salesman-free zone. "We found, through studies, that 90 percent of a family's business is done at the kitchen table—a comfortable, casual place," said Mendel. "We wanted that same no-pressure feeling in our dealerships."

Customer Service

Wireless Personal Data Assistants (PDAs) are used by sales and service associates to efficiently answer consumers' questions, check inventory and expedite the service process. Mazda owners can even come to the dealership, sip coffee and eat a pastry while watching their vehicle being serviced.

To start the revolution, Mazda is courting dealers with incentives of up to $300,000 to build stand-alone dealerships that emphasize the cars and pamper the customer. They have opened six new dealerships this year and plan to have a total of 200 by 2009. Each new franchise gets an installation crew sent from Mazda that installs the technology with access to the Internet and terminals on their tech platforms. At the same time, Mazda is providing training sessions for sales associates and service associates at the dealerships to retrain their instincts from one of control to a car-first, customer-centric mentality.