Maserati of Newport Beach

Sitting in the conference room of the breathtaking new Maserati of Newport Beach showroom situated on the famed Pacific Coast Highway, Bill Story is not just living the dream, he is sharing it. In 2006, Maserati of Newport Beach will sell more cars than ever before, in an area where what you drive is what you are, and style is the name of the game.

Bill credits Maserati with most of the success: "Maserati is unique and special, there's engineering and there's heritage. Our customers here in Southern California are sophisticated consumers, they like the exclusivity, the technology and the design. Maserati is a perfect fit. You look at Entourage and Desperate Housewives, and see the cars that famous people want to drive. So here we opened this new dealership in Newport Beach -- the town where Fox based its hit show The OC -- because simply being here is half of the marketing. Image and brand are really critical to the people in this neighborhood, so we combined the design and engineering of Maserati with really cool, brand-relevant architecture."

Do people just walk in? Yes, because the people in this area are naturally attracted to beautifulthings, and Maserati of Newport Beach is filled with beautiful cars. "The brand is getting stronger every day, and the product line has broadened this year with the Sport GT and Executive GT versions of the Quattroporte. We've opened a new store in a high-visibility location: 56,000 cars drive past each day, and most of them with qualified buyers! They are also really educated about product and they want the best and newest. One of our guys was driving a QP down Crystal Cove, when someone asked him to pull over and then actually asked him whether it was the Executive GT -- they knew what it was, they were a car person. That's the type of customer we attract, and they can be hard to please because they have knowledge. We strive to make them happy and give them everything they want."

But do the people really know what Maserati is, or do they just like beautiful cars? "I find they are aware that Maserati is Italian, and is related to cars. Over the past four years, as a manufacturer and as dealers, we've done a good job of reintroducing the brand into the US. We've carved out the brand's identity, and there's been a lot of credibility built through dealership activities at local shows and events and also nationally with things like the Wall Street Journal relationship and a lot of good information on the Internet, so when somebody comes in now, they have some idea of what Maserati is about. Yes, we get to educate them about the heritage, about the cars, about what makes Maserati really special, and that's where the relationship starts."

So customer relationship is central to Maserati of Newport Beach's philosophy? "Definitely. Of course every dealer will say that, and I think we all try to make it true because it's part of the brand -- the personal touch and exclusivity. We want to introduce people to the products, and we want to create a positive lasting relationship, We want to provide a good ownership experience. We hope to sell our customers lots of cars over their lifetime, and that's where the relationship really comes in. You have to treat them right, you have to make it a worthwhile experience -- a rich experience. It's not just selling cars, you're really part of the family here, and you will see our clients come in sometimes just to hang out and chat. I love that part of this business"

The Maserati of Newport Beach showroom is largely transparent and sits close to the road. In daylight it resembles an avant-garde loft filled with Italian automobilia. At night it looks like a hot club. The massive murals of racing success are visible from the street. Those who walk up to the windows will clearly see the huge black and white photographs of racing glories -- Fangio in a 250F for instance -- and be infused with the pride of this dealership and the brand. "This is a very exciting location. Newport Beach is like the US Riviera. Anyone who has seen The OC knows it's a little bit over the top on the show, but it's not that much over the top. I wanted the showroom to provide an environment that is exciting, for people to talk about. So we have lots of audio-visual elements. I wanted people to get a sense of the excitement. At night there are Holopro screens projecting video out for the street. It's alive and exciting, and gets the blood pumping."

So how does Maserati of Newport Beach keep that excitement flowing? "We go out to the public with the cars, and we advertise in the media, but ultimately it's about the staff and their relationship with the clients. Not all our people come from a car sales background. They've done all kinds of things -- but they love cars, and they love these cars. They like the passion, the mystique and the history -- all the things that makes us what we are. Salesmen often just bounce around, but we tend to keep our staff for a long time -- they are like family to us as well as to their customers. There's a lot of comfort here, a lot of stability to complement the excitement. In this segment the learning curve is also pretty steep and I insist my sales team be truly knowledgeable about the product; that takes passion, and that's what our staff has. This is a place where people engage and invest themselves. That keeps the excitement flowing."

And the cars keep the excitement flowing too? "Yes. Maserati sits apart from other brands. It's Italian, and all the images that are conjured up by being Italian. The history, the sensuality: you open the door and there's all that leather, and the wood, and it meets or beats your expectations. It's performance - racing - oriented, because there's that history. That's what I like about Maserati and Ferrari. You don't see Rolls racing, Aston does some racing, but our roots are in racing. Even though customers may not be race fans, there's a connection in everyone's minds between racing and performance. Maserati is a performance oriented brand, but it's also about reliability and longevity. People keep their Maseratis on average six times longer than other cars we sell, and they drive them every day. The cars exceed their expectations, they make them feel like virtuoso drivers and connect them with the driving experience. So the cars do more than keep the excitement flowing -- they are the excitement. And this is a really exciting time for us, with new product arriving and more coming, things look very bright."

You can drop in to Maserati of Newport Beach and catch some of the excitement any time, and take part in the Californian dream.