Downtown Automotive Group (DAG) has been serving the needs and exceeding the expectations of customers in Toronto’s central core for the past 24 years. Founded by Shahin Alizadeh, President and CEO, in 1992, DAG has expanded from one to nine stores and operates with a team of approximately 300 employees.

DAG prides itself on providing a world-class experience, from their award-winning staff to their stunning showroom and facility. Their focus is providing customers the best experience when it comes to purchasing and servicing a vehicle.

Specializing in both new and pre-owned vehicles, DAG’s inventory has several known and trusted vehicle brands. While they have top sellers across all of their brands, currently the market indicates a demand for SUV’s and CUV’s, which appear to be the most popular family of vehicles.

DAG also serves as a resource to individuals and companies in the most respected luxury automotive brands while striving to make each guest‘s experience amongst the very best in the industry.

“We are unique in that all of our operations are within the same general geography and provide the downtown and midtown buyer the opportunity to deal with the same organization and with the same level of professionalism through all nine locations,” says Alizadeh. “We approach the customer from a point of view that they are at the forefront of our entire business model; consumers are also far more demanding and critical of a service provider who does not practice what they preach.”

DAG is confident that once a customer experiences their brand of excellence, they will consider it time and money well spent. “Today’s car buyer is looking for a product in one sense but to a much greater extent they are also looking for a relationship with the dealer,” says Alizadeh.

Today’s teach savvy consumers have access to an array of digital tools that provide the car buyer with all the sources of information necessary to make an intelligent choice in terms of what they would like to buy.

“The choice in terms of where they would like to purchase their vehicle is entirely driven by developing enough comfort and assurance that the dealer will deliver what they say they will deliver in terms of service,” says Alizadeh.

Customer feedback is essential for DAG, who will reach out and hear from as many of their customers as possible so that they may better understand the shifts in consumer attitudes. DAG stays on trend and makes themselves known on all of today’s mainstream social media platforms to extend their reach to multi-generations of potential car buyers.

The growth and density of the downtown core is booming and offers avenues of opportunity for the Group to do something unique over the course of the next two years, as DAG is developing Canada’s first multi-level/multi-branded automotive dealership project dubbed as “Autoplex”.

DAG will combine six automotive brands with over 900 condo units alongside other commercial venues in one plot of land on Queen Street East at the Don Valley Parkway. Locating several dealerships in a single, five-acre location will prove to be more efficient as DAG will own the dealerships and move their nearby Hyundai and Toyota stores to the new site.

Set to open sometime in the spring of 2018, the ambitious project is bound to set a new standard when it comes to dealerships in major metro markets. The massive project calls for six separate dealerships representing Toyota, Scion, Lincoln, Ford, Hyundai, Nissan and Infiniti.

“It will be six entirely separate operations sharing little more than a roof and three levels of park and service area below grade,” says Alizadeh.

The enormity of the project stems from the realities of real estate in the area where land values in the city are determined not by commercial venues but rather residential density. “Any dealership would have to generate an unrealistic set of numbers to justify their location,” says Alizadeh.

Luxury brands have a strong presence along the Don River corridor. Baby boomers have sent luxury vehicle sales soaring to 10 per cent of the Canadian market which only continue to grow during the next decade.

“The innovation and creativity that has gone into developing this complex should give it a unique positioning in the marketplace,” says Alizadeh. “We plan on accommodating various needs of the typical downtown Toronto car buyer as well as going beyond by offering some unique opportunities that have not been explored in our business.”

The luxury market represents about 35 per cent of total sales in Toronto, while 20 per cent of all luxury registrations in the country are in Toronto, which makes it the biggest luxury market in Canada
DAG believes in serving their community beyond retail sales and exceptional service.

“At DAG, we strive to be a good corporate citizen within the Downtown Toronto community through our involvement in our various community activities such as Covenant House, ACCES Employment, YWCA, B&O Yorkville Run, Toronto Muddy York RFC, The North Toronto Baseball League, The East Toronto Baseball League and Beach Community Soccer League” says Alizadeh.

DAG is committed to building a business that brings value to the community as a whole. The underlying thread that ties all of their brands together is their focus and loyalty in providing the best automotive sales and service experience to those who live, work, and play in and around the City of Toronto.

For more information: www.dtautogroup.com