At the other end of town, the other place dealing in fine German engineering–Germain, formerly Howard Cooper, is getting a new building to split off Audi and Porsche from VW. General manager JP Lammers says the large investment required to give VW’s luxury and sports brands their own showcase was a condition of the franchise renewal. The new Audi/Porsche of Ann Arbor showroom should be open by November, leaving Volkswagen of Ann Arbor in the original building–though the complicated multi-phase facelift will not be finished for some months yet.
The relationship between dealers and manufacturers is changing, says Lammers: “In the ‘olden’ days there was an us-against-them approach. Now we work with the manufacturer as a team.” The downside, though Lammers doesn’t say it, is that dealerships have lost some of their autonomy, which in turn seems to be driving the consolidation of local dealerships like Cooper into larger cartels with deeper pockets and more bargaining power, like Germain.
“Now manufacturers ask ‘How big is your showroom?’ Dealers used to have more control over the process,” Lammers says. Accordingly, the showrooms are getting fancier. “We’ll have two cafes and two customer lounges. Gone are the days where there’s just an old Bunn machine. Instead of vending machines, people want healthy snacks.”
Lammers says the Jetta SportWagen diesel is the classic Ann Arbor car. “I’ve been told we sell more [per capita] than anyone in the Midwest,” and some months Audi sells as many cars as VW. And, he claims, Porsche isn’t just for the one-percenters anymore: “Porsche SUVs start in the fifty thousands.” That’s probably not what most people dream about when they dream about Porsches though. Most likely they’re dreaming of the little cream-colored Boxster convertible in the showroom. A sign on its windshield reads, “was $75,535, now $71,246.”
Volkswagen of Ann Arbor, Audi Ann Arbor, Porsche of Ann Arbor, 2575 S. State, 761-3200. Mon. & Thurs. 8:30 a.m.-9 p.m.; Tues., Wed. & Fri. 8:30 a.m.-6 p.m.; Sat. 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Closed Sun. vwannarbor.com, audiannarbor.com, porscheannarbor.com
