GILBERT, Ariz. – GM Chairman and CEO Rick Wagoner and award-winning dealer Henry Brown today celebrated the grand opening of Henry Brown Buick-Pontiac-GMC -- the first BPG dealership in the Southwest to feature GM’s all-new exterior and interior design.
Wagoner and Brown spoke to a crowd of approximately 200 guests in the dealership at 1550 E. Drivers Way. Wagoner congratulated Brown on his new dealership and for being the largest BPG dealer in the Western Region.
“Henry Brown Buick-Pontiac-GMC will offer customers great convenience and a terrific selection of distinctive GM products,” said Wagoner. “With a new showroom and state-of-the-art amenities, Henry Brown’s newest dealership demonstrates the focus on great cars, trucks and customer service that are hallmarks of GM’s and Henry Brown’s success. We’re really proud to work with Henry, his wife, Mimi, and the entire Brown team to make their new facility the best it can be. And we appreciate the commitment that Henry is demonstrating in making a major investment in this great all-new facility.”
“This is a milestone not only for Henry Brown, but for the Buick-Pontiac-GMC channel,” said Jim Bunnell, general manager of Buick-Pontiac-GMC. “Henry has been a terrific advocate for putting these three brands under one roof.”
Channel Strategy
In 2002, GM announced a strategy to group the Buick, Pontiac and GMC brands into one preferred distribution channel. Currently about 1,600 dealers have been aligned, and together they sell 72 percent of the volume for the three brands.
“We believe this provides a competitive advantage for our dealers,” Bunnell said. “The Buick- Pontiac-GMC channel allows GM to optimize each brand by developing distinct yet complementary vehicles that reduce product overlap, broaden the appeal of each model and reach new customers.”
Each brand in the channel has it own defining characteristics:
• Pontiac: Athletic, bold designs with great performance
• Buick: Premium vehicles that offer classic, timeless designs, and exquisite levels of craftsmanship and high quality
• GMC: Professional Grade trucks, SUVs and crossovers engineered to provide superior capabilities and innovative features.
New Facility Design
The Buick-Pontiac-GMC team worked with dealer input, GM Design Staff and a nationally recognized architectural firm to come up with the design.
The overall result is an efficient facility design program that provides Buick-Pontiac-GMC dealers with consistent brand identification, as well as a modern and pleasing environment for their customers.
"Taking care of the customers is the entire point of the dealership,” said owner/operator Henry Brown. “They come to us trusting that we'll take care of their needs and we do. The Brown family has been in the automobile business with GM for 4 generations; the legacy began way back in 1927. We're still family owned and operated and we're still loving every minute of it. Our new facility just makes it that much easier to take care of each and every customer that walks through our doors."
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General Motors Corp. (NYSE: GM), the world’s largest automaker, has been the annual global industry sales leader for 77 years. Founded in 1908, GM today employs about 274,000 people around the world. With global headquarters in Detroit, GM manufactures its cars and trucks in 35 countries. In 2007, nearly 9.37 million GM cars and trucks were sold globally under the following brands: Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, GMC, GM Daewoo, Holden, HUMMER, Opel, Pontiac, Saab, Saturn, Vauxhall and Wuling. GM’s OnStar subsidiary is the industry leader in vehicle safety, security and information services. More information on GM can be found at www.gm.com.