Volume 11 Issue 1 » 83
EXTRAS
Zoom to
OpenRoad
Mazda
by Will Fong
»
It’s a powerful combination when the mostdecorated brand at the recent AJAC Car of the
Year Awards is supported by a showcase facility
that sets the highest standard for the brand
in Canada. The manufacturer is Mazda and
the new facility is OpenRoad Mazda in Port
Moody.
Photos courtesy of Ventana Construction
Mazda is on such a serious roll their tag line may soon need a third
“Zoom.” Certainly the multiple wins at Canada’s 2014 Car of the Year
Awards would point in that direction. Mazda picked up awards in
a trifecta of categories: Best New Small Car Under $21,000 for the
Mazda3, Best New Small Car Over $21,000 for the Mazda3 Sport
and Best New Family Car Over $30,000 for the Mazda6. The winners were announced by the Automobile Journalists Association of
Canada, better known as AJAC.
It was cause for celebration at OpenRoad Mazda where the doors
swung wide open recently to a Mazda dealership like never before.
Ease of access is apparent from the start. “In designing our new
building, we put ourselves in our guests’ shoes,” says Kirt Gill, general
manager of OpenRoad Mazda. He continues, “We made a point of
looking at parking and access first. We built an oversized drive–thru
service bay, with room to park up to eight cars either indoors or under
cover. This way our service guests never need to find a place to park. In
the Sales Department there are ten parking spots directly on the left
as soon as our guests drive in.”
We caught Kirt recently to ask him about his role as general manager
and his new OpenRoad Mazda store.