This Saturday, I checked out the Lexus showroom at Gold Coast, Australia!

Plus, a visual journey of how the Lexus Southport dealership at Gold Coast came to be

Previously, I had checked out the showroom at Jalan Sultan Ismail and the dealership on Jalan Sungai Besi. Both are in Kuala Lumpur. 

So, for a change, let's do things a bit differently and look at a Lexus showroom outside Kuala Lumpur. In fact, let's get out of Malaysia and head Down Under to Australia. 

Lexus Southport in Gold Coast, Australia opened its doors in 2012 at 161 Ferry Road. For those of you familiar with Gold Coast, it's right beside the Southport Park Shopping Centre. You can't miss it.

The other thing you can't miss is the Orange Solar Flare Lexus RC F standing guard at the entrance. Under the pumped up bodywork is a 5.0-litre naturally aspirated V8 that kicks out 478 bhp for a 0-60mph time of under 4.5 seconds. Shod with 19" alloys, the RC F has an aggressive stance even at standstill and looks like it's about to leap off the glass railings that only stand between it and the road.

Walk around the outside of the showroom and there's practically a sea of Lexus IS and NX models - many of which are pre-owned and hence sold at discounted prices. It's the job of Colleen Dewson, one of the many Sales Consultants on duty that day, to ensure these cars - and the new units inside - find new owners to drive them off the parking lot.

Inside, the showroom has a airy concept and with one sweep of the eye, you can take in the entire showroom floor. It had a similar simplicity and modernity to our KL showrooms. 18" rims were hoisted up on two separate column displays, and in front, was yet another Lexus RC F in silver bullet.

Unlike the unit outside in Orange Solar Flare, this particular example came with a sunroof. Let's think about this for a second: Gold Coast conjures up images of sun, surf and sand. If this was LA, you'd liken it to Venice Beach. It's not rocket science to deduce a sunroof is the preferred option on Lexus models sold here. Interestingly, Colleen points out, this isn't so. The least popular option for Lexus sold at Gold Coast is in fact a sunroof. Why it bucks popular trend, I don't know - but apparently while Lexus in other states are frequently equipped with a sunroof, those in Queensland are bought without it. A case of too much sun, perhaps?

Moving on, they had several units of the Lexus IS 200t, Lexus IS 300h and Lexus IS 350. The former, destined to be the bread and butter model, for Lexus of Southport, is seen here in gunmetal grey, a colour I suspect appeals to young executives - not because grey is a corporate colour the way black is, but because young executives lead such busy lifestyles, they usually neglect washing their car on a frequent basis - and a storm grey colour hides dirt and dust very well.

Colleen discloses something rather peculiar about Lexus Australia operations. Unlike in other countries, Lexus Sales Consultants here are given a Lexus as a company car. Part of a marketing drive to promote the brand, Colleen herself has a Lexus RC to drive around as her personal car. Is it practical? Totally, she says. And this is a mother with two kids, aged 8 and 14!  

I'm informed that Lexus of Southport is actually a pretty new showroom. It only opened in December 2012, making it just over three years old. Before the showroom appeared, it was an empty building, refurbished upon purchase by the franchise holder in a period of 10 months.

Presented below is a visual journey of how Lexus Southport of Gold Coast came to be: from the time furniture and fittings are installed, right up to the handover of the final showroom to its dealership owner. It's actually rather interesting to see the bowels of a showroom come together before the doors are finally opened to walk-in customers. I'll be the first to say I know jack about construction, internal fabrication, or remodelling a commercial outfit. Nonetheless, I can appreciate seeing how an empty lot becomes a structure, how a structure becomes a building, and how that building comes to serve customers of all walks of life. 

Lexus of Southport is located at:

161 Ferry Road
Southport QLD 4215
Australia

Tel: +61 7 5509 7000 
Website: lexusofsouthport.com.au

Cheers!

All Lexus

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