Five years ago, LaFontaine Automotive Group bought the large parcel at the northwest corner of Wagner and Jackson “without a clear plan of how we were going to activate it,” according to Max Muncey, its director of corporate communications.
The longtime home of Jim Bradley Pontiac Buick GMC got a new showroom building in 2012 to become a MINI dealership, but it closed during the pandemic.
LaFontaine, a second-generation family business with forty-three Michigan locations (including one in the auto mall less than a mile west), sold used cars there before opening an Infiniti dealership in 2023.
Now it’s been joined by LaFontaine Mitsubishi Ann Arbor, offering the county’s only sales, service, and parts dealership for the Japanese brand. (Mitsubishi also has a research and development lab on Varsity Dr.) They’re planning to revamp the seven-plus-acre site and add another building to better accommodate both brands.
It’s the second of what Muncey believes will be several more Mitsubishi dealerships under the LaFontaine flag. So far they’ve chosen college towns for these lower-cost imports.
“The price point of the Mitsubishi vehicles are very attainable to individuals, and it’s truly a phenomenal product,” he enthuses. “Focusing on a younger demographic can be a huge win, as well as a family or an individual that’s looking for a reliable, trustworthy vehicle that meets their budget needs.”
Prices start south of $20,000 for the subcompact Mirage, but their best-seller is the Outlander, a mid-sized SUV available from the “high twenties to your mid-forties,” with plug-in hybrids at the higher end of that range. By next summer, Mitsubishi expects to launch a fully electric vehicle in partnership with Nissan, based on the next-generation Leaf.
LaFontaine encompasses many domestic and import brands, and Muncey says their sales force is trained and incentivized to consider customers’ overall vehicle needs and initiate a “warm handoff” to another location as appropriate.
“There is no other dealer in the state of Michigan, let alone in the United States, that allows their sales people to cross-sell like we do,” he says.
LaFontaine Mitsubishi Ann Arbor, 3500 Jackson Rd. (734) 352–6899. Mon. & Thurs. 9 a.m.–7 p.m., Tues., Wed., & Fri. 9 a.m.–6 p.m., Sat. 9 a.m.–3 p.m. Closed Sun. lafontainemitsubishiannarbor.com
Got a retail or restaurant change? Email [email protected].