Eurokars’ S$106m flagship facility with two luxury car showrooms to open in December

The Business Times, by Derryn Wong
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/transport-logistics/eurokars-s106m-flagship-facility-two-luxury-car-showrooms

Located at 11 Kung Chong Road, the new Eurokars building has eight storeys above ground and three basement levels with a total floor space of around 100,000 sq ft.
PHOTO: DERRYN WONG, BT

Multi-brand automotive dealership Eurokars Group plans to officially open its new 11-floor flagship facility at the Alexandra/Leng Kee automotive belt in December 2023.

Costing around S$106 million in total to develop, it will house the company’s corporate headquarters, which will be moved from its existing location at 12 Sungei Kadut Avenue. It will also be home to multiple workshops and two flagship showrooms.

Originally announced in 2017, Eurokars acquired the land for the new facility in 2011 for S$28 million and began construction in late 2018. The building was originally scheduled for completion around 2020, but was delayed due to logistics and manpower issues arising from the Covid-19 pandemic. The construction cost for the building was around S$78 million.

According to people familiar with the matter, the building is likely to be named either the Eurokars Centre or Eurokars Headquarters. Located at 11 Kung Chong Road, it has eight storeys above ground and three basement levels with a total floor space of around 100,000 square feet (sq ft).

The first floor will be occupied by a new showroom for ultra-luxury brand Rolls-Royce. The second floor will house a space for German luxury brand BMW’s more expensive cars, namely the “Grand Klasse” luxury cars and high-performance BMW M models.

The facility will be home to service workshops for BMW, Rolls-Royce, McLaren and Pagani.

Eurokars Group is the sole authorised dealer for Mazda, McLaren, MG, Mini, Pagani and Rolls-Royce in Singapore. In Indonesia, it represents Porsche, Rolls-Royce, BMW, Maserati, Mazda, Ferrari, Pagani, Bentley and Mini. It operates a Mazda dealership in Perth, Australia, and has three Rolls-Royce dealerships in China.

In October 2022, it joined Sime Darby-owned Performance Motors Ltd as the second official BMW dealer for Singapore.

The new centre is a “reaffirmation of the company’s commitment to its partners and clients”, said Eurokars Group executive director Charmain Kwee. She added that it caps off a recent period of growth which has seen the company expand its facilities, add new brands, and evolve its operations to suit new conditions in the auto industry.

The Group became the importer and dealer for China-owned British brand MG in 2019 with its new subsidiary Eurokars EV also focusing on electric vehicle technology. In 2021, it became the importer and dealer for Italian ultra-luxury sports car maker Pagani.

The relocation of the company’s corporate headquarters from Sungei Kadut to a “key position in the midst of Singapore’s automotive belt” will also allow for operational improvements and an enhanced customer experience, she added.

Eurokars was founded by automotive tycoon Karsono Kwee in 1985 beginning with Stuttgart Auto, a Porsche dealer in Singapore. It ceased that operation last year as Porsche pivoted to a direct-to-consumer sales model, although it is still involved in the business through Porsche Singapore, a joint venture between Eurokars and Porsche Asia Pacific that runs Porsche sales and aftersales.

The company has numerous other showrooms and facilities in Singapore including seven others in the automotive belt, one in Ubi and a major facility in Tanjong Penjuru. The latter is a S$70 million workshop and warehouse with a gross floor area of 430,000 sq ft, established in 2018.

The establishment of the new facility will mean a reshuffling of the company’s operations in the Alexandra-Leng Kee automotive belt.

The group’s 29 Leng Kee Road address that currently houses Rolls-Royce will become a showroom and service centre for BMW’s mainstream cars. Eurokars Group’s current BMW showroom, at 11 Leng Kee Road, will become a pre-owned BMW showroom.

Eurokars remains the largest privately-held automotive dealership group in Singapore.

Company representatives previously raised the possibility of an initial public offering in 2017, but Charmain Kwee told The Business Times that a listing is currently not on the cards “for the foreseeable future”.

The new facility is the latest from a major dealership group to refresh and expand automotive facilities with multi-storey buildings and large investments for the brands they represent.

In 2019, dealership group Wearnes Automotive expanded its existing premises at 45 Leng Kee Road with an eight-storey building at the estimated cost of S$30 million. In 2012, Audi and dealer Premium Automobiles established Audi Centre Singapore at 281 Alexandra Road with eight storeys and three basement levels.