If you had left the Valley five years ago, the biggest surprise on your return this month might be San Juan’s cluster of luxury car dealerships:  Mercedes-Benz, Jaguar, Land Rover, Audi and Acura. Across the Valley, luxury car dealers are selling BMWs, Maseratis and more Mercedes at a surprising pace.  One Mercedes dealership moves 60 new cars monthly.

Luxury car buyers, who are spending between $30,000 and $100,000, seem to appreciate the courtesy, consideration and even coddling they receive from attentive, focused sales staff.  Think of it as concierge-level service accompanied by that distinctive, new car smell.

Making a splash 

The Valley’s newest luxury dealership –Acura of San Juan — opened in August, five years after the South Texas Luxury Experience Dealership Group, its parent company, launched Mercedes–Benz of San Juan.  Alfonso Cavazos, managing partner and vice president of operations, joined San Antonio entrepreneur Bill Bird and Texas businessman Ron Heller in launching that first store which the German auto manufacturer projected would sell 20 cars a month.

Instead, in its first month, 70 new Mercedes were sold in San Juan, in part because the partners changed the way customer are perceived and treated, said Cavazos.  “We are in the life style enhancement business. The customer deserves respect. We are here to make their lives easier, and we use cars to reach people.”

It is not rare for luxury car dealers to be grouped together, said Bill Bird.  “What is rare is the explosion of brands here and for us to come in where there is not a culture of luxury experience and treating customers with respect.”  For Bird and his partners, it is the culture associated with the brands that makes the difference and brings in more customers.

When the San Juan Mercedes dealership’s sales stayed high, other manufacturers came to the partners asking to be represented.  Gradually the Luxury Experience group opened the Audi of San Juan store (44-55 new cars monthly), Jaguar/Land Rover (8-10 new Jaguars and 45-50 Land Rovers) and the Acura dealership.  Each has its own general manager.

Who buys luxury cars?  Cavazos said their customers include individuals from the region’s huge and growing medical community, the school districts (which have more employees than any other industry) and Mexican nationals residing in the Valley.  “We feel the Acura is affordable luxury,” which heightens its appeal to teachers. In the Acura lobby, the Yamaha piano programmed to play light jazz provides a subtle but upbeat background for the customers in glass-walled offices who are negotiating their luxury car purchases.  The Luxury group works to tailor a customer’s buying or leasing arrangement to their preference for a new car every 24, 36 or 48 months.  “What we do differently is match your buying cycle with your trade-in cycle.”

“My assets are the people I work with,” said Cavazos. He’s a believer in empowerment and “letting the employee act like an owner.  They are the key holders.  They serve our customers. Our leadership is at the back, supporting everyone with our arms spread wide, supporting the people who show up every day.”  New employee-partners, who go through a rigorous interviewing process, often assume they will be fired when they make a mistake. “We all make mistakes. We look at the process, see what went wrong and we move forward. I do not yell or belittle people. I encourage, motivate and help them. “

Cavazos talked about the importance of training, including role playing, in creating a customer-focused staff.   Every business card has the employee’s cell phone number on it. “If one of our customers needs to get hold of us, we want to be accessible. If the customer wants something, and it’s good for the customer, then it is good for the company.” The company’s outlook extends beyond the dealerships.

“We have an obligation as participants in the community to make sure San Juan and the whole region is fruitful and benefits from our presence.  We don’t take this obligation lightly. We consider it a blessing, an honor.”

The San Juan group is on its way to becoming a virtual dealer serving south Texas from Laredo to Corpus Christi, which Cavazos said lacks various luxury car dealerships. The Luxury group has invested in four car haulers that will pick up and deliver cars to customers for both sales and service. “The bottom line is they don’t have to come here.  You pick up the phone and tell us what you are looking for.” The hauler will be in each city twice a week to deliver new cars and also pick up vehicles that need service while dropping of a new loaner.

What will the future bring? “We’re always searching for opportunities,” said Cavazos, whose wife of 36 years, Janet, and their son, Joseph, work with him.  “I know that I serve an awesome God.  I could never have imagined this.  But it’s not about the buildings or the cars.  It’s about the people whose lives we’ve impacted.  It’s about other people reaching their goals and sending their kids to college.”

Consider that 10 years ago a toll road was proposed for the San Juan tracts where the dealerships are now located.  The city successfully opposed the highway, and now the area is changing San Juan’s image.

But 20 years before the Luxury Experience group arrived, the Valley already had a BMW dealership as well as Cadillac stores. In 1990, Bert Ogden and Bob Vackar purchased what is now Bert Ogden BMW in McAllen.  “Bob recognized the potential when they bought a BMW dealership in Mission,” said Marsha Green, marketing director for Bert Ogden RGV.

“Both the market and the Valley are growing.  That is creating more sophisticated local buyers and attracting new residents.”  Green said luxury car dealerships reveal an existing and attainable quality of life.  BMW coupe convertibles, sedans, SUVs and cross-overs all have their fans.

With cars priced starting around $70,000, the Bert Ogden Maserati of Mission opened in March this year, in a remodeled Hummer store. In July, the dealership sold more new Maseratis than all other Texas dealers except one in Dallas. “The manufacturer looks at the entire luxury market, and they determine a percentage of market penetration that they think is appropriate.  In July, we exceeded our expectations by two units, selling five instead of seven,” Green said. The Mission store also sold five pre-owned Maseratis that month.

Can you picture yourself behind the wheel of a luxury car?  Maybe it’s time for you to take a test drive.

For more information, see acurasanjuan.com, audisanjuan.com, bertogdenbmw.com, bertogdenmaserati.com, jaguarsanjuantx.com and mbsanjuantx.com.

Sept. 2015 cover story by Eileen Mattei.