32 BCBusiness OCtObER 2018
e n T r e P r e n e u r o F T H e Y e A r 2 0 1 8 / B U S I N E S S T O C O N S U M E R
Bells have been tolling for
car sales of late; even General
Motors Co.'s former vice-chair,
Bob Lutz, has warned that the
rise of autonomous vehicles
spells the end of the automo-
tive industry as we know it.
But Christian Chia, presi-
dent and
CEO of OpenRoad
Auto Group, isn't putting on
the brakes; the company he
formed in 2000 is going pedal
to the metal in pursuit of
opportunities that he insists
are emerging from the chang-
ing landscape.
Case in point: luxury vehi-
cles, which the Amsterdam-
born, Jakarta-raised Chia is
convinced are the future of his
business. "Autonomous vehi-
cles are going to completely
turn the industry upside down,
and it's going to be a boon to
luxury cars," he asserts, a trace
of a Dutch accent inˆecting
his speech. "An autonomous
car will become an extension
of your home—something that
you really want to socialize in,
shop in, work in. And that's
why we made a concerted
eŠort to focus on the luxury
sector."
In 2014, Richmond-based
OpenRoad purchased the
dealership rights to the
BMW'Store,'the Rolls-Royce
Motor Cars'store and'Mini'
Yaletown, all in Vancouver. A
year later came the Langley
Auto Collection, Canada's
–rst luxury auto mall, where
moneyed shoppers can roam
Audi,
BMW, In–nity, Jaguar,
Land Rover, Mini and Porsche
showrooms. Chia is now plan-
ning an expansion into the
U.S., where he aims to open a
supercar destination centre in
Bellevue, Washington, show-
casing Bentley, Lamborghini,
McLaren and Rolls-Royce.
He's also exploring other
avenues for OpenRoad, which
over the past two decades
has grown into the province's
largest auto retailer, with 23
dealerships and three collision
centres. This –scal year, the
company is expecting about
$1.3 billion in revenue from
new and pre-owned car sales,
as well as service and repair
orders—up from last year's
$1.15 billion. "Gen Y, Gen Z,
they don't necessarily view
car ownership as a goal," Chia
acknowledges. Still, he says,
car- and ride-sharing compa-
nies need to be maintained and
managed. "Could OpenRoad
be one of the ˆeet management
companies for these –rms that
are going to emerge?" he asks.
Instead of investing in
"bricks and mortar," Chia
envisions a future "in mobility
services, in ˆeet management,
in technolo¢y, in autonomous,
in car- and ride-sharing."
Forget the doomsayers: "It's
actually going to be a golden
era for mobility and the auto
industry," he says. —J.W.
W I N N E R
Christian Chia
p R E S I D E N T a N D
C E O , O p E N R O a D
a u T O G R O u p
Finish this sentence for us:
"Entrepreneurs need a lot more…"
Confidence to become bigger, better and more
successful before they transition out of their business.
Too many entrepreneurs exit their businesses too
early. They shortchange themselves and their
organizations. We see that a lot in B.C.
P A C I F I C R E G I O N W I N N E R
25th
a n n i v e r s a r y
