Yark Mazda in Toledo has a fresh new look, an expanded showroom and service drive and the groundwork laid for the eventual arrival of Mazda electric vehicles.
They are all part of Yark’s major renovation of its Mazda store at 6000 W. Central Ave., which once was home to a Fiat and Alfa Romeo dealership. The Mazda store is along auto row directly across Central from Yark Chrysler Jeep Dodge Ram.
The dealership has received a complete makeover. The showroom has been blown out, ringed with windows and equipped with a customer waiting area with modern black leather chairs and white end tables.
General Manager Steve Yoos said the showroom now can fit up to eight vehicles to display compared with two before the renovations.
That’s particularly timely given Yark Mazda’s aggressive plan to sell more vehicles next year and a growing lineup of Mazda SUVs offering new styling and all-wheel drive on all vehicles, Mr. Yoos said.
“The growth Mazda is experiencing and expecting in the years to come with its premium brand and sales forecast has us very eager to make such an investment into the Toledo market,” he said.
Yark Mazda expects to sell 350 new vehicles in 2023 after tight vehicle availability constrained sales again in 2022.
Mr. Yoos said the store anticipates about a 12 percent increase in new vehicle sales in 2022 from the 250 sold in 2021.
The makeover nearly doubled the size of the dealership. In addition to the showroom expansion, Yark Mazda built a new service drive-through, a three-station service counter and multiple sales and finance offices for customer interaction.
The décor was done to Mazda factory specifications that mandated the white walls, black-and-white themed furniture and even the gray, slate-looking tile floors. The look is clean and modern in keeping with Mazda’s aspirations to be viewed by consumers as a premium brand.
To that end, Mazda is making all its SUVs beginning in 2023 all-wheel drive. The popular CX-5 SUV accounts for about 65 percent of Mazda’s U.S. new vehicle sales.
The Yark Automotive Group is the largest dealership group in Toledo with nine franchises, including Yark Mazda, owned and operated by the company.
Yark Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer Billy Yark said it is company policy not to disclose spending on store upgrades.
The group completed a major renovation of Yark Chrysler Jeep Dodge Ram last year. And it made substantial upgrades to its Ford store, Chevrolet dealership and BMW store before that, Mr. Yark said.
“We invest back into our business and back into our community,” he said.
To get an idea of what a major dealership renovation can cost in Toledo, Richard and Connie Cronin spent about $1.4 million this year to makeover their Volkswagen of Perrysburg dealership for an onslaught of electric vehicles.
The bill was $1.1 million for construction, $200,000 for furniture and amenities and $100,000 for EV chargers and electrical grid upgrades.
Yark Mazda has an EV charger in service for store use and ran wiring out to the end of its customer parking area for a public charging station in the future, Mr. Yoos said.
A stem for the charger is visible, though the store will wait for further Mazda guidance before installing a fast-charger there, he said.
Mazda’s leadership in Japan has been clear that it intends to be very conservative in how quickly it will electrify its lineup. The brand has a reputation for efficient gas mileage and peppy acceleration.
Mazda launched a plug-in hybrid version of its CX-60 SUV in 2022. But the lineup will not start transitioning heavily to full EVs until the 2025 model year and beyond. A hybrid vehicle combines a traditional gas-powered engine with the ability to switch to battery power.
Mr. Yoos said Yark Mazda expects to start taking delivery in April of the all-new CX-90 SUV, among the largest in the lineup, which will also feature a hybrid version.
The Yark group bought Brown Mazda in February, 2020 and moved it right away from its nearby location at 5625 W. Central to its current permanent site that once housed Yark’s Fiat and Alfa Romeo store.
That was one month before the coronavirus officially made its way to U.S. shores and caused massive disruptions to every phase of life, including the car business.
Mr. Yoos said the pandemic made store renovations a challenge, causing building materials to rise in price and leaving them in short supply in many instances.
For example, the showroom at Yark Mazda has 24-inch tile squares on the floor, though it was not the original factory specification, because the store’s tile supplier could not get the smaller tiles, Mr. Yoos said.
That required Yark Mazda to go through a process of getting an exemption on the tile from the factory.
The showroom last week sparkled with a large silver Mazda logo greeting customers and four Mazda SUVs on the floor.
Moreover, customers seeking car maintenance and service were able to pull into a heated service drive-through opened by large roll-up doors rather than wait outside in the elements to be checked-in, as was the pre-renovation process.
In fact, sales were conducted from temporary trailers on-site during the summer as construction hit full stride.
Gary Turner, a salesman at Yark Mazda who worked with Mr. Yoos at Brown Mazda, said Mr. Yoos rarely took his scheduled days off during the remodeling to ensure that customers felt welcome and comfortable under the conditions.
“He really stepped up to the challenge,” Mr. Turner said.
First Published December 31, 2022, 12:00 p.m.
