New BMW store to enhance customer experience

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This article was published 22/05/2014 (4496 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Patrick Hasselmann has seen a lot of changes in his 22 years as a BMW sales rep.

“Winnipeg has changed and BMW has changed with it,” said the dean of Birchwood BMW’s sales staff. “There has been a lot of growth in demand for luxury vehicles in the past few years.”

After moving from the Winnipeg Art Gallery district to Confusion Corner, the city’s BMW franchise was acquired by the Chipman family’s Birchwood Auto Group in the late 1990s and relocated to the Pointe West AutoPark off Portage Ave. just past the Perimeter.

Now, a new BMW store, under construction since last May, is almost ready to open, and Hasselmann calls it a “beautiful structure that has been designed for the customer.”

General manager Craig Becker said the new building is 95 per cent complete, with just some landscaping and painting still to go.

“Our focus in designing our new building is all about creating a delightful experience for our customers,” he said.

The new showroom has space for 15 vehicles and features a large TV wall consisting of four large high-definition screens. Coming soon will be a new BMW boutique area highlighting clothing and other after-sales products.

The service area has a six-car drive-thru, nine hoists and three wash bays, as well as 1,000 square feet for tire exchanges.

“The shop is almost entirely made of stainless steel — that includes the integrated work benches,” Becker said, adding that the facility is lit by LED lighting and the floor is built from an industrial compound.

“We tried to be as green as possible in the design and construction. Everything in the shop (the oil, washer fluids, air and exhaust exchanges) has been designed so that nothing touches the ground.”

“We have the first service shop in Winnipeg using the open-kitchen concept,” Becker noted. “Customers can see into the shop and watch as service technicians work on their vehicles.”

Becker and his staff are also excited about the large number of new BMW models being introduced over the course of this year, with a new vehicle scheduled to arrive roughly every six weeks.

Hasselmann said the model selection ranges from the entry-level BMW X1, with a base price of about $30,000, to the BMW M6 which sells for a base price of around $111,000. Among the new vehicles that have already arrived are the X5 (slightly larger and more luxurious than its predecessor with better fuel economy, Hasselmann said) the 2-Series (which he said recaptures the classic BMW look of old), the 4-Series Cabriolet (the first BMW model with a folding hard top and AWD) and, most recently, the updated X3.

Next to arrive will be the all new M3 Coupe and M4 Cabriolet in June, with the new X4 coming later in the summer. BMW’s brand-new i3 and i8 electric cars are due out in the fall.

Becker said BMW sales are strong and growing. “We expect that 2014 will be a huge breakout year with our new facility and all the new models coming in.”