Business View Caribbean | Feb 2019

investment in our new sales showroom, we will be able to offer enhanced services to our customers and further expand our share of the market.” Regarding the competition, Peter says that there are four or five other franchised car dealerships on the island. What gives Interna- tional Motors an advantage, he believes, is that it offers a wide variety of brands and vehicle models from economy cars and SUVs to work- ing vehicles such as pickup trucks and even the luxury Mercedes line. “That diversity is a huge advantage,” he states. “We’re the distributors for Kia and Mazda, and we deal directly with Ko- rea and Japan, which means there’s no middle man between us, so our pricing is very good, and we pass those savings on to our custom- ers with our very competitive pricing. With the Suzuki, Jeep, Ram and Mercedes lines we have partnered with Interamericana Trading Corp located in Barbados since the early ‘80s – they are the regional distributors for these brands; they give us ongoing technical support and as- sistance and their buying power results in our pricing also being very good. We have sound business relations with all our suppliers which have been established over a long period of time.” Even with those competitive advantages, Peter admits there are some challenges in operating a car dealership in the British Virgin Islands. “It’s a very small market and not easily acces- sible,” he opines. “So it’s a difficult market to sometimes satisfy the expectations of cus- tomers with spare parts. There might only be 30 of a particular model vehicle on the road, but each vehicle is made up of thousands of different parts and it’s impossible for us to have every part for every vehicle exactly when a customer might need it. We currently have $2.2m worth of spare parts in stock, but it’s still a challenge for us and a challenge that all car dealers face in small volume markets. Expedit- ing parts into the BVI can be difficult too and expensive. It’s not like the U.S., where ‘It’ll be here in the morning.’” Nevertheless, Neville says he believes that, in the end, the decades-long success of Interna- tional Motors has been built upon dedication and hard work, good customer service, and the longevity of its staff, which, today numbers 45 employees. “We pride ourselves on being as fair and efficient as possible for our customers,” he remarks. “We invest heavily in our infra- structure and in staff training, with the latest technical diagnostic equipment, and with the latest dealer management software to make us more efficient and productive which helps alleviate some of the hurdles of working in the Caribbean. And our staff retention is incredi- bly high. We have some staff members now on the team for over 45 years. The average tenure 42