Carmaker Brand Standards Drive Change at U.S. Auto Dealerships

Dealers can better serve customers by upgrading their buildings, writes Sharon Charwick of HFA Architecture + Engineering, but careful planning and budgeting are critical.

BENTONVILLE, Ark., Aug. 19, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Renovations can help auto dealerships boost performance and meet the evolving standards of today's brand-conscious carmakers, advised a veteran architect from HFA Architecture + Engineering.

Nonetheless, dealers can sometimes be reluctant to launch these multifaceted upgrade projects, writes HFA's Sharon Charwick (AIA, NCARB) in an Aug. 11 column for Digital Dealer. "They worry that the renovations will be too costly and difficult to execute, or that construction will hurt business by getting in the way of customers and salespeople," Charwick observes. "These are understandable concerns."

In "Embracing Dealership Upgrades as a Growth Opportunity," the architect offers several tips for carrying out such upgrades efficiently. She and her HFA colleagues have worked on projects involving clients and brands such as Volvo, Subaru, Kia, Ferrari, Harley-Davidson and Boch Automotive, to name a few.

Charwick underscores the importance of bringing in the general contractor (GC) and architecture and engineering (A+E) firm as early as possible in the planning process. She notes that close, multidisciplinary collaboration can help dealers tackle logistical details related to:

• construction
• permitting
• site flow, and
• building and energy code compliance.

In addition, experienced A+E teams will carefully review the carmaker's core brand requirements.

Dealers should have their A+E team negotiate with the manufacturer's design standards team "to protect your budget and achieve your business needs while still hitting key criteria in the carmaker's design-intent documents," Charwick advises. "That could mean securing compromises over requested features that you feel are unnecessary, impracticable or unaffordable."

Rather than building an enclosed car delivery area as requested, for example, the dealership might argue that it can achieve much the same end by building a less expensive open canopy. Similarly, the A+E team could negotiate for "lower ceiling heights, fewer extra conference rooms, or a more reasonable amount of expensive glazing," Charwick writes.

The construction and A+E firms can help keep projects on budget by communicating about the potential effects of different decisions on costs and schedules, Charwick notes. She encourages dealers to embrace upgrade projects as an "opportunity to incorporate more customer- and employee-friendly amenities and technologies and/or to integrate energy-efficient approaches that save money and time."

Toward that end, the A+E firm might offer insight into new potential features that will make the space more appealing. These could include: tech lounges, mother's rooms, and natural lighting strategies.

Architects and engineers also can work with dealers' vendors to help them incorporate new advances such as scanners that automatically gauge tire wear, or license-plate readers that pull up vehicle data when customers drive up for service, Charwick writes.

In her view, the construction project can be a great opportunity to rethink the current service space, an increasingly important profit center for dealers. "Consider expanding and adding a few more bays, designating quick-serve bays or reorganizing tool storage areas to ramp up the efficiency of your service operations," she writes.

Lastly, the architect stresses the importance of paying close attention to strict new building codes related to energy savings and accessibility. "When carrying out changes to existing buildings, auto dealerships need to be clear-eyed about the potential for the work to trigger government-mandated upgrades to key systems and/or the building envelope." The in-house engineers at a multidisciplinary A+E firm can make sure that any proposed design will comply with such codes without forcing the dealer to shell out for expensive, unintended upgrades.

Charwick notes that dealerships have always faced pressure from carmakers to rebrand. But today, these pivot points tend to be more involved, requiring extensive coordination.

She concludes: "Brought in early and as part of a long-term partnership, architects and engineers can help dealers satisfy corporate requirements, get a jump on the competition, and put the business on the road to continued success."

The full column is available at:
https://digitaldealer.com/news/embracing-dealership-upgrades-as-a-growth-opportunity/166774/

Media Contacts: At Jaffe Communications, Elisa Krantz, (908) 789-0700, [email protected].

SOURCE HFA Architecture + Engineering