The Porsche brand has shared space with three other vehicle manufacturers – Acura, BMW and Subaru – at Performance AutoMall in Chapel Hill for many years. With three service bays, the team could handle about five to seven appointments per day, and fewer than 30 parking spots for their inventory of cars.
“Why did we build this facility?” said Phil Whitehead, general manager for the new Porsche Southpoint – the third dealership to join the Hendrick Southpoint Automall, which opened in 2014 – during his speech at last week’s ribbon-cutting ceremony. “We were plumb out of room in Chapel Hill. We did this so we could give the Porsche customers, the Porsche cars, the Porsche brand, everything they expect and deserve in a fantastic facility.”
The 20,310-square-foot facility includes a 6,000-square-foot shop with eight service bays, which can take about 15 to 20 appointments per day, and 163 parking spots. About 330 employees will be split between the new dealership and Chapel Hill location.
“This is little bit of a hand off today,” said Chapel Hill-Carrboro Chamber of Commerce’s President Aaron Neville. “Porsche has been a Chapel Hill brand for a long time, and now it’s moving over to our neighbors and friends [in Durham]. … It’s rare for one of your greatest corporate citizens to be your local car dealer, and our local car dealer has reinvested in our community and in charity and backed our organization, so we are grateful.”
Bill Shore, interim president of the Greater Durham Chamber of Commerce, also shared a few words: “It’s an absolute joy to have Porsche in our community here in Durham,” he said. “The partnership that exists between Chapel Hill and Durham is amazing. There really is no dividing line; we’re all in this together. I can’t wait to see how many cars come off the lot.”
The dealership will host a charity-based grand opening event in March 2016.
Hendrick boasts 18 franchises in the Triangle with almost 1,200 employees. It has 137 franchises nationwide and employs about 10,000 people, making it one of the largest automotive retail organizations in the country.
