Lamborghini, Bentley join B.C. group's high-end roster in Washington state

British Columbia's largest automotive dealership group has assumed ownership of the only so-called supercar dealership in neighbouring Washington state.

Bentley, Lamborghini and Rolls-Royce Bellevue is the OpenRoad Auto Group’s first foray south of the border.

Christian Chia, president and CEO of OpenRoad Auto Group saw an opportunity to grow OpenRoad’s luxury lineup and expand its dealership group by “entering into a new, world-class market that’s only about a three-hour drive from Vancouver . . . or less if you’re driving a Lamborghini.”

Addition of the established luxury dealership adds two new nameplates to the OpenRoad lineup, Lamborghini and Bentley, and gives it a second Rolls-Royce outlet bringing the group count to 17 nameplates. Before the Seattle purchase, premium and ultra-premium brands included Audi, BMW, Jaguar, Land Rover, Infiniti, Lexus, Porsche and Rolls-Royce (Vancouver).

Washington provides a newer market for supercar business that only recently has begun to develop there.

Dimitri Kotsalis, OpenRoad area general manager, declined to disclose a sales figure, but said the company saw Washington’s aging population with increasing disposable income as a market it couldn’t ignore.

“I think there’s tremendous upside in the [greater Seattle] market for a variety of reasons: A strong super-car culture already exists in Washington state; the size and economic strength of the city; the laid-back North West culture is beginning to evolve, and ‘permission to own’ concerns are gradually eroding.”

“The market continues to perform and it seems quite stable,” he said. “Whether there will be any effect in the future remains to be seen.”

Kotsalis said OpenRoad has not moved any key staff to the Seattle outlet. There are currently about a dozen team members in Bellevue “with a sales target for 2017 of 100 new and 100 used.”

While the B.C. supercar market has slowed somewhat, it still grew at five times the rate of all new-car sales in 2016.

That growth “hasn’t eaten into sales from lower-end brands because supercars are usually bought in addition to, not instead of, other vehicles,” said Kotsalis.