ADDING TO THE recent spate of mega-showroom construction is Subaru regional distributor Motor Image’s new $25 million facility in Toa Payoh. The 380,000 sq ft Subaru ‘3S’ Centre will focus on Sales, Servicing and Sale of parts, and will also function as a regional training centre for Subaru mechanics.

The new Subaru Centre will boast a dynamometer to aid servicing and repair as well as a novel roof-top off road testing ‘garden’. There will also be a mini-theatre, a children’s playroom and a dedicated new car delivery area. A concierge-style approach to customer management is also on the cards.

The new facility is expected to open towards the end of this year and CarBuyer spoke to Motor Image head Glenn Tan, for more details on the project.

CarBuyer: How do you expect this new MIE centre to boost sales?
GT: This new facility will give customers the opportunity to try the cars, not just on the roads but on our new drive-through roof garden that will showcase Subaru’s all-wheel drive technology. It gives the customers the chance to drive over different types of terrain and it’ll really show the difference between all-wheel drive cars and two-wheel drive cars.

CarBuyer: Does a better initial showroom experience for a customer have a significant bearing on the purchase decision?
GT: I think a lot of people don’t have too many opportunities to perceive the advantages of all-wheel drive, we don’t have snow or easily accessible rugged terrain. This will give us the opportunity to showcase this feature, as well as Subaru’s active safety philosophy.

CarBuyer: Do you expect this new facility to cannibalise traffic from your existing showrooms?
GT: No, actually because Toa Payoh is another belt, not a car belt per se but it’s a very mature housing estate so there’s a big pool of potential customers. Our Group’s Nissan dealer also has a showroom in Toa Payoh and there’s been no cannibalisation.

CarBuyer: This will be the first MIE Centre, what other countries are you planning to build similar facilities in?
GT: We’re planning to build the next one in Thailand, then in the Philippines. Eventually all our country markets will have similar Centres. This makes it easier in all our markets for customers to properly test the cars in purpose-built facilities under controlled conditions, basically everything that might be difficult to do on crowded public roads.

CarBuyer: $25 million is a big investment, what kind of returns are you expecting?
GT: We don’t look at it solely from Singapore’s perspective, we handle distribution for Subaru in many countries in the region. The local MIE Centre will act as a regional training centre for all our mechanics in each of our markets. It will also act as a flagship for the brand, being the first example of this new format of facility.