Bricklin Offers Dealers 15% Gross on Chinese-Made Cars as Part of Visionary Vehicles Dealer Plan
 Bricklin with TACH Co-publisher, Bob Gordon |
Bricklin seeks forward-thinking elite dealers to form 'Founders 25 Group'
Bricklin also releases architectural renderings of Visionary Vehicles' 'Auto Shows' - dealerships of the future that will fundamentally change the North American auto retail experience
NEW YORK, March 2 -- Malcolm Bricklin, Founder and CEO of Visionary Vehicles LLC, unveiled today his plans for creating a Visionary Vehicles dealer distribution network. Highlighting Bricklin's announcement is that Visionary Vehicles' dealers will receive 15% gross on Visionary Vehicles prestigious luxury line of cars being imported from China. This is significantly higher than the industry average.
"No smart, forward-thinking dealer will want to miss the opportunity to partner with China," said Malcolm Bricklin. "With the power of China, a luxurious high-quality brand of cars, and a new ground-breaking retail approach, Visionary Vehicles will forever change the landscape of the North American automotive industry."
Providing dealers with 15% gross on Euro-styled luxury vehicles priced 30% below comparable models will provide increased cash flow during the first years of dealer operations. Visionary Vehicles' 250 dealers will have exclusive territorial rights to sell Visionary's full line of cars and trucks. Each dealer territory will be expansive and eventually expected to retail more than 4,000 vehicles a year.
Featuring a spacious gallery-like showroom and an on-premises half-mile test track, all of Visionary Vehicles 250 dealer facilities will re-create an "Auto Show" experience for the consumer. Each dealer will be required to invest between $10 and $15 million for the following:
* Exclusive product distribution rights in a large prescribed territory
* The acquisition of an equity portion in Visionary Vehicles LLC
* The purchase of land and the construction of an Auto Show facility in
the dealer's designated territory.
The Visionary Vehicles Founders 25 Group
In response to the overwhelming demand by prospective dealers seeking to partner with Visionary Vehicles, Malcolm Bricklin will invite a handful of North America's smartest and most aggressive dealers to join the Visionary Vehicles "Founders 25 Group." The Founders 25 Group will immediately participate in key decisions that lay the foundations of the Visionary Vehicles product launch, such as:
* Selecting and approving the North American brand name
* Giving input on product styling, engine configuration, as well as
vehicle pricing
* Choosing the chronological order in which the next 10-15 models will be
introduced
* Defining the new Visionary Vehicles consumer retail process
* Developing the final interiors and exteriors of the Visionary Vehicles
Auto Show
* Recommending and sponsoring the next 225 dealers
"As the first car company of the twenty-first century, we are creating a new dealership network from the ground up that places the needs of the consumer first," said Malcolm Bricklin. "Dealers will participate in the decision-making process of Chery-Visionary operations in a way that has never been dreamed of before."
Visionary Vehicles' Auto Show
Malcolm Bricklin also revealed the architectural plans for the Visionary Vehicles' dealer facilities. With an inviting layout complete with an expansive showroom and the most cutting-edge consumer amenities, the dealerships more closely resemble an exciting Auto Show than traditional dealership showrooms. Consumers will be able to see, test drive, and learn about Visionary's full line of cars and trucks in a spacious auto show-like environment.
Visionary Vehicles' Auto Show facility was designed by Swanke Hayden Connell Architects, a world-renown architectural firm whose work includes Trump Tower in New York City; the interior of IBM's Corporate Headquarters in Armonk, NY; the Olympic Plaza in Beijing; and the Moscow International Business Center in Russia.
Bricklin said, "Visionary Vehicle's Auto Show will revolutionize the way in which Americans buy automobiles and create a new industry standard for selling cars in North America."
Bricklin added, "For too many customers, buying a car is akin to visiting the dentist - uncomfortable, stressful, and painful." He continued, "Visionary Vehicles is committed to setting a new standard of service that eliminates high-pressure sales techniques, and actually makes the process of buying a car enjoyable."
"The Visionary Vehicles Auto Show will be a central component in the positioning of our brand," said Paul Lambert, Visionary Vehicles' President of North American Marketing. "We are truly redefining the price of luxury in this dynamic product line-up and at the same time creating a new, fun, smart, and entertaining buying experience for the consumer."
With a combination of outstanding customer service and a sleek, state-of the-art facility, the Visionary Vehicles Auto Show will soon put traditional dealerships - with their distasteful selling techniques - at a competitive disadvantage.
Fred Dellis, Executive Vice President of Business Development and Strategic Planning said, "Customer retention depends on a sales process that is responsive to the needs of consumers, and an exceptional quality of service. With the Visionary Vehicles Auto Show, we expect to set a new industry benchmark beyond the 40% customer retention that traditional dealerships strive to achieve."
The Visionary Vehicles Auto Show will be dramatic and breathtaking architectural structures and include the following features:
* A multi-story main building 150 feet x 150 feet x 35 feet high with
22,500 square feet of space
* An outdoor video screens 100 feet long by 35 feet high - the size of
Times Square and "the Strip" in Las Vegas
* A multi-story service building 150 feet x 80 feet with 24,000 square
feet of space and 20 service bays
* Gallery-style showroom with 12,000-15,000 square feet of vehicle display
space
* A one-half mile on-premises test track
* Complimentary car wash, valet parking, food and drink
* A supervised nursery providing child care
High resolution images of the Visionary Vehicles' Auto Show are available online at http://www.vvcars.com/.
As part of the dealership network agreement, Visionary Vehicles' 250 dealers will be encouraged to apply many of Visionary's innovative sales strategies to their other brands, which will automatically result in increased vehicles sales, improved customer retention, and create a friendly environment for consumers.
Visionary Vehicles and Chery Automobile Company have a plan to eventually sell 2,000,000 units in North America with the first 1,000,000 units to be manufactured at the large, expansive Chery factory in Wuhu, China and the next (additional) 1,000,000 units to be manufactured at new Visionary Vehicles/Chery facilities in the United States. For more information, visit http://www.vvcars.com/.
About Visionary Vehicles
Automotive entrepreneur, Malcolm Bricklin, and his team of experienced professionals established Visionary Vehicles as an international automobile company with the mission to bring an exciting new brand of aggressively priced, beautifully styled, high-quality vehicles into North America.
After searching the globe, Visionary Vehicles discovered the ideal manufacturing partner in Chery Automobile Company (Wuhu, China). Over the past several months, Visionary Vehicles and Chery's management teams have created a dynamic working relationship that brings innovation, a long-term product strategy and "quick response" capabilities to the marketplace to give its brand an incredible competitive advantage.
Visionary Vehicles will also introduce a new retail experience for its consumers and is in the process of creating a revolutionary new design and consumer-friendly environment for the planned self-standing dealer facilities.
About Swanke Hayden Connell Architects
Swanke Hayden Connell Architects is the continuation of an architectural practice founded in 1906. Staffed with more than 250 professionals located in seven offices worldwide, the firm provides services in four core areas of practice: architecture, interior design, workplace strategy, and preservation/restoration, working with a variety of corporate and institutional clients.
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