Maserati of San Diego
Good Cars, Good People, Good Atmosphere – and Good Coffee...

San Diego is one of the most pleasant cities we have visited on our travels around the United States and Canada – it enjoys pleasant southern California weather combined with a great Oceanside location. Just to the north is the diversely upscale town of La Jolla, which enjoys the same climate and location as San Diego while retaining a very agreeable ‘small town’ feel. People know each other and say "Hi!" on the street, the coffee shops and bars are family businesses rather than chain stores, and traffic seems less rushed (not to mention less dense) than in its near neighbor.

La Jolla is also the home to Maserati of San Diego, and when we visited the area earlier in the year we took the chance to stop by and meet general manager Ron Giger and sales manager Fernando Sustaeta. One of the things we wanted to know was whether there is a distinct San Diego ‘market’, and how it might differ from Los Angeles, to the north.

“When you talk to the people at the dealership in Beverley Hills, for example, they often get people who are almost ‘buying on impulse’ – they walk in, and they want to get a car as soon as possible – that day, if they can,” Fernando told us. “We do get the occasional customer like that, but most people take their time; I think at least a third of our clients take the time to specify their own car. They will sit down, look at the multitude of paint colors, feel the whole range of leather samples, use the car configurator to create a car which is completely theirs, and then order it from the factory. Another third will do some of that, but then they’ll be willing to accept a car we have in the showroom, which has most of what they want. And the final third will usually be happy with what we have on display.”

Having clients who want to take their time, and look at all the options, is something which pleases Fernando. “At this level, it’s all about developing relationships – I want the people who come here to feel that they’re not simply buying a car,” he continued. “We want people to feel that they can trust us, that we won’t mislead them, we won’t tell them something simply because it’s what they want to hear. You should have a personal relationship with your sales person, and the sales manager, and you should be able to do the same with the people on the service side. Of course, it makes good business sense for us – if people feel comfortable coming here, then they’re more likely to come back and get another Maserati. And they do come in – our clients will just stop by, especially on a Saturday, just to say hello. A lot of the time that we’re here, we’re not actually trying to sell cars, we’re taking people to the coffee shop next door, shooting the breeze – just being car guys.”

It’s an approach that Ron wholeheartedly endorses. “Down here, it is important to have relationships with the type of people who build these cars, and our sales people have done a great job of developing strong relationships with our customers,” he said. “Our clients are very comfortable coming here, they enjoy it, they find it a very warm and comfortable place to come and look at these wonderful cars, and they trust our guys. I’m proud that it’s the same through the whole company – our service department has one of the highest customer satisfaction ratings that Maserati has; I owe a lot to my staff, especially my service manager and warranty administrator. Our service facility is offsite, but we make sure that’s never a problem – if a customer wants to take his car there, they can, or they can bring it here, and we will transport it to service and provide a loan car if necessary. A lot of the time, we will simply collect the car from the owner’s home or office, and take it to the service facility on a flatbed truck.”

As with all auto dealers, Ron would always like to have more clients, so we asked how the dealership is making that happen. “We do some print advertising and display ads, but we don’t really see this car selling as a result of ads – it’s something you do because you have to,” Ron explained. “What sells the car is the driving experience; when you get someone out in the car, so they can drive it, and feel what it’s like, they’re much more likely to decide to purchase one. And our clients enjoy that kind of event, too – we get our customers out, old and new. We create affinity partnerships with companies such as high-end jewelry stores, restaurants, golf clubs; we’ll bring our clients, they’ll bring theirs, so everybody gets to socialize, drive the cars, admire some fine watches, eat nice food, spend an evening at a golf course. It works very well.”

Of course, it only works if people like the cars – but that’s not something Ron is losing any sleep over. “The GranTurismo has been wildly successful because of its looks, and when you get someone behind the wheel, they really enjoy it,” he said. “It helps that it’s new, of course, and that’s something that puts us ahead of the opposition; recently Bentley introduced the Continental GT Speed, but it still looks just the same as ever. We’ve recently taken one of those in on trade on a GranTurismo, and a professional sportsman recently traded a Continental GTC for a GranTurismo, too. The 2009 Quattroporte, with the new look, is really going to be successful next year, and I think we’re going to catch some of the competition napping – their products aren’t changing and ours are, and any time you can do that, you tend to be successful. My only disappointment is that I can’t get any more GranTurismo S models, because the demand for that is huge.”

Doesn’t that make a salesman’s life tough, when there is demand they can’t meet? “In a way it can help, because buying one of these cars isn’t a fast decision,” explained Fernando. “For example, I’ve been talking to a lady now for around two months; she buys a car every four years, but she hasn’t had a Maserati before, and now with the GranTurismo we’ve got a car that suits her. She’s been in and driven three or four cars, she has the resources to buy any car she wants, but she’s not going to jump in and drive away. If she went to a dealership where they needed to sell higher volumes, such as BMW, Mercedes, Jaguar, do you think they would have the patience to deal with that kind of process?”

“Dealing in smaller numbers can be challenging because, as a person, selling cars is how you judge your own success,” he continued. “But you have to accept that it’s not about someone coming in, and a week later buying a car. Sure, it happens now and then, but you need to have a pipeline of prospects, of people where you know they are likely to buy a car at some point. That’s where the relationship side comes into its own, and a lot of it is being straight with people. Sure, you’re going to make some money out of selling them a car, but you never take advantage of that. They understand that, and they actually want that, because if we didn’t make money, then we wouldn’t be here to support them.”

To close, we asked Ron how the Maserati brand is perceived in his market. “I think it’s a very strong brand – it’s well respected as an Italian sports car company,” he told us. “With  Maserati continuing to move forward, with the Pininfarina-designed update on the 2009 Quattroporte and the increased performance available from the 4.7 liter engine, I think the Trident is going to move to the forefront. In an economy where pretty much everybody else’s sales are down, often by 25 or 30%, Maserati sales have held up remarkably well. The cars are terrific – and it’s not just me saying that. When we get great reviews such as the one in Motor Trend, where the Quattroporte outranked the Mercedes S550, Lexus LS600h and Jaguar Super V8, that bodes well for us. Of course, we talk about that kind of thing to our customers – third-party opinions are very powerful, because they lend credibility to the product, and they back up what we tell our clients.”

With a good product line which is improving all the time, a great location and loyal, happy customers, it’s no wonder that Ron, Fernando and everyone at Maserati of San Diego is confident they will be able to weather the current financial storms. If you are in the area, stop by and pay them a visit. Oh, and the coffee shop next door does great muffins, too!