As originally published by Texas Border Business newsprint edition November 2016.
In 2005, at the beginning of this publication, I asked several prominent businesspeople about the future of the metro cities in the Valley. In particular, one successful developer told me now eleven years ago that the city of the future was Edinburg.
Now, I just look around, and I can see that he was right. People who are wise and able to plan for the future, I call them visionaries. There aren’t very many of them, however, they do exist.
Bob Vackar of Bert Ogden Auto Group is one of those visionary men. In the automobile industry, he is a proven leader. He has made decisions that have yielded great success and as a consequence, there are more job opportunities for hundreds of residents of the Rio Grande Valley. I can say that he is now one of the biggest gears that move the South Texas economy.
Just a few months ago, he started to build one of the largest facilities in the organization, and in the Rio Grande Valley. The project, located in Edinburg, will be near 60,000 square feet of contemporary design and house approximately 200 employees. It will be home to the newest addition of the Bert Ogden Auto Group, Fiesta Nissan.
Texas Border Business spoke with Mr. Vackar, as always, a very busy man.
When asked why he selected Edinburg for the location of its new facility, Mr. Vackar responded, “Manufacturers conduct market research and viability studies of proposed locations for new dealerships. When we proposed the Edinburg location and those studies came back, Nissan North America was excited about the opportunity of us representing their brand in this market. Some other factors that influenced the decision to build in Edinburg were the announcement of the Bert Ogden Arena, UTRGV’s new medical school and the influx of businesses moving to the area. After considering everything going on in Edinburg, the decision to bring Fiesta Nissan here was an easy one.”
He pointed out that this facility has a twofold strategic purpose. First, it will serve to house Fiesta Nissan’s sales, service and parts departments. Secondly, the second floor of the facility will serve to consolidate all accounting operations for Bert Ogden’s Edinburg locations.
“Once Fiesta Nissan opens, we will have seven franchises that operate in Edinburg.” He stated, “Rather than having an accounting department in each one of them we’re going to take all of our staff and move them into one facility.”
Anyone that knows Mr. Vackar, know that he is always open for opportunities.
Mr. Vackar believes in investing in a multitude of things, property being one of those, for future expansion. He always buys land if he feels it’s a viable opportunity, he’ll invest in it with nothing in mind other than future growth. The new Fiesta Nissan dealership sits on a nine-acre tract of land that was once a cotton field.
“The economic impact for Edinburg and the region is going to be huge,” stated Gus Garcia, director of the Edinburg Economic Development Corporation.
“We are very excited about the growth in that corridor. More than anything, the new Nissan dealership brings many jobs to Edinburg. The impact of those jobs is significant, the investment generates property tax dollars for the community, and the parts and service department generates sales tax revenue. The investment also creates consumer and investment confidence for the area,” Garcia stated.
He also pointed out that it’s easy to see the area beginning to develop. “With the Nissan dealership and today’s groundbreaking of the future Bob’s Steak and Chop House restaurant, you can expect to see healthy sales and revenues for the city. It may be hard to understand it now, but if you take a drive, you will see the numerous multimillion dollar projects under construction. “At last count, it was about $150 million in direct investment to the area, and that’s nothing to sneeze at,” Garcia stated.
The Bert Ogden dealerships have a huge footprint as it pertains to tax revenue for the county. Lucio stated that in September of this year, they retailed 847 cars out of all dealerships in Edinburg.”
He said that Fiesta Nissan is expected to retail 250 to 300 new vehicles a month. “Our planning volume for pre-owned is between 100 to 125.” He said, “So it will be a high-volume store.”
Mr. Vackar took the opportunity to announce that the company already recruited several master certified technicians to work on Nissans. “We’ll also service other brands. Just because we’re a Nissan dealership doesn’t mean we won’t service other brands. We’ll have the ability to repair any vehicle.”
He also said that Nissans are known for their longevity, and you can put 200 or 300 thousand miles on them with no problem at all. “Nissan offers a quality product at a fair price. Most customers are concerned with their monthly budgets and Nissan offers several models that allow us to stay within those budgets.”
Fiesta Nissan will have a soft opening and announce its Grand Opening in the near future. Mr. Vackar is excited for customers and business partners to see the new facility as it is one of the first in the country to tout the latest design Nissan North America has introduced in the U.S. market.
“We felt that by choosing the new design, the facility would be more appealing to our customers. The new dealership which will feature several lounges for customers buying a vehicle or waiting while their car is being serviced.” A couple of coffee bars have been added throughout the dealership, and he predicted that it will be a very comfortable place for people to do business.
Fiesta Nissan is a full-service dealership with 28 service bays and a fully air-conditioned service department. It will feature a quick lube service station for regular scheduled maintenance. “We’ve got four service lines, and two of them dedicated to warranty repairs, and the other two will be related to fast service,” Mr. Vackar stated.
Mr. Vackar invited the general public for personalized service and a truly exceptional experience at Fiesta Nissan in Edinburg. TBB
