The automobile industry has taken some knocks recently, but Ralph Schomp Automotive is betting $22 million that Beemers are here to stay. The family-owned dealership sells BMWs, Hondas and Minis at its Littleton location, but after a planned Oct. 22 grand opening, its BMW inventory will relocate almost 5 miles south to a new facility, budgeted at $22 million.
The new BMW dealership will be approximately 90,000 square feet on 14 acres, said Jim Biner, personnel director for Ralph Schomp. He said the new facility will feature 47 service bays, a showroom and basement for indoor shopping during inclement weather, nicer amenities for the service waiting area and a boutique for lifestyle accessories.
The site will provide significantly more space for vehicles, added general sales manager Brian Briscoe. The current lot can hold 75 preowned cars and 50 new, while the new site will have more than 350 parking spots, allowing more efficient sales.
“We’ve been at this location for quite a few years, and we’ve outgrown it — we’re cramped,” Briscoe said. “Currently, we’re able to keep only a sampling of our inventory on this lot.”
Biner said the project has been in the works for the past several years, long before the auto industry began struggling because of the slowing economy and rising gas prices.
BMW announced this month that its pretax profits for the April-June quarter fell 44 percent from last year, causing the German carmaker to warn of missing 2008 expectations.
Sales at Ralph Schomp BMW through July are pretty much level with last year, Briscoe said. Honda sales are up a bit and Mini is up, putting the dealership ahead across the board.
“I’m not saying we’re necessarily out of the woods; I just think we have a lot of things that tend to help us weather through the storm,” Briscoe said.
Those factors include the dealership’s customer-service reputation and one-price rule to selling vehicles, but a large part comes from the types of cars it sells, he said. BMW makes more fuel-efficient cars in the higher end of the price spectrum whose typical customers are not as susceptible to economic dips.
The auto industry is facing difficult times, especially for manufacturers whose staples are trucks and sport utility vehicles, but BMW should be a bit more resistant, said George Magliano, director of North American automotive forecasting for Global Insight in New York.
“BMW is not immune to the downturn in the U.S. market, but certainly they have a much better role to withstand it,” Magliano said. “It’s one of the premium luxury brands, and that sells well.”
Chris Gibbons, director of Littleton’s Business/Industry Affairs Department, said the city is disappointed to lose sales and repair and maintenance taxes from BMW operations, soon to be a stone’s throw from city limits. He could not disclose how much those were.
Littleton might not like where the new dealership falls, but Briscoe is excited about its proximity to customer bases in Highlands Ranch, Cherry Hills Village and Castle Rock.
“The location there is phenomenal — it’s right off the highway,” Briscoe said.
Alex McCarthy: 303-954-1381 or amccarthy@denverpost.com
