John Marazzi plans to shift his new luxury car dealership south of Fort Myers into a higher gear.
Marazzi, as managing partner, purchased the Audi, Jaguar, Land Rover Fort Myers dealership a week ago. By this past weekend, Marazzi was already offering discounts up to $2,000 off sticker price on new Audi models to drive sales, a move he admits is unusual in the luxury car market."Just because you have a hot product, it doesn't mean you have to hold prices up," Marazzi said.
The price incentives make the dealership more competitive with major metro markets like Miami, encouraging area residents to make a deal closer to home."If we can get a customer in here, that is a customer we can keep," he said. It didn't take customers long to get the message. The dealership sold 12 cars over the weekend. It had sold 18 new cars in February.
Marazzi, who was general manager of Fort Myers Toyota for 17 years, and purchased the Naples Nissan dealership now called John Marazzi Nissan. That dealership now routinely trails only his former employer in total sales in Southwest Florida, selling 129 new cars in February.
The dealership was awarded Nissan's Circle of Excellence award for top operations. Marazzi, 45, said the luxury dealership has the potential to sell 120 cars a month."I don't know a lot about a lot of things, but I do know a lot about the car business," he said. "I don't want to come off as cocky, but I am confident."
Darryl Shepherd, the general manager of Fort Myers BMW, said Marazzi has established himself as a strong player in the local market."John Marazzi is a very intelligent, wise business operator," Shepherd said. "He will adjust his marketing and business operations no matter what market he is working in."
Marazzi admits that elements of the business have plenty of room for improvement. "Our service operation at this location has been mediocre at best," he said. "That will change because, if I can give a customer a top-quality service experience, they will be back." As one part of his service upgrades, Marazzi said loaner vehicles for service customers will be luxury models, instead of the rental cars previously offered.
He said the dealership also plans to renovate the building and service areas and boost its Web site to drive sales.Marazzi said the dealership will hire about 10 additional people soon for a total staff count of 60.
