British automaker Bentley Motors executives said they are planting the Bentley flag in South Jacksonville in 2019, the first dealership for the company in the area and the seventh in Florida.
It also brings what marketers called a “hyperluxury” brand to town, whose prices start at $180,195. That’s just 20 percent below the median single-family home sales price in Jacksonville - $219,135.
Some Bentley models are substantially more, according to Car and Driver. Its flagship Continental GT starts at $225,000. The Mulsanne Speed at $338,325.
Mario Murgado, president and CEO of South Florida-based Brickell Motors LLC, will operate Bentley Jacksonville, his ninth U.S. dealership.
He said the 25,000-square-foot facility is expected to open next year along Bonneval Road and will be visible from the Interstate 95-Butler Boulevard interchange. He did not provide a specific date.
Murgado said the dealership will initially support 25-35 jobs.
At a news conference Monday at the Prime Osborn Convention Center, Murgado joined Bentley President and CEO Mark Del Rosso, Mayor Lenny Curry and City Council member Danny Becton to announce the project. The dealership will be built in Becton’s council district.
“I’ve looked at this market for a long time,” Murgado said. “This is a brand that’s never been here and this makes a statement for Jacksonville.”
Murgado said he began proposing Jacksonville to Del Rosso and his team more a year ago, saying he was sold on the area’s economic capability to maintain a high-end brand like Bentley.
Del Rosso said he views Jacksonville as a city experiencing tremendous growth and the right demographics to support a full-service dealership.
“We think the coupling of Bentley with a community like Jacksonville that’s filled with achievement and people that are achievers in themselves rooted in community was a natural fit for us,” Del Rosso said.
He said the market presented “an unparalleled opportunity that we couldn’t pass up.
Curry said Bentley’s move into city speaks to the direction Jacksonville is headed and that the area is beginning to shed its reputation as a well-kept secret in Florida.
“I have said for the last few years that we don’t want to be a secret, and I think this is one example of what Jacksonville is becoming,” said Curry.
He said that the free market sees Jacksonville as a viable choice, whether that’s a high-end automaker, or any other business.
“I met with them before this decision was made and their data and analysis tells them everything they’re seeing,” Curry said.
“They want to be in Jacksonville because they’re going to be successful in Jacksonville,” he said.
The Jacksonville dealership’s opening in 2019 occurs during the Crewe, United Kingdom, company’s 100th anniversary, and at a time when the brand plans to unveil the next generation of its flagship Continental GT sedan, and a V8 and hybrid version of is Bentayga SUV.
The Bentley store in Jacksonville is the first for Murgado, who operates Audi, Buick, GMC, Honda, Mazda, Infiniti, Cadillac, Volkswagen dealerships in Florida and Chicago.
“There are 38 dealerships in the U.S. and 50 states, so think about what that says about Jacksonville,” Murgado said.