Customers can drive their own vehicles with an instructor or use one of the store’s demonstration vehicles.
Most dealerships keep their new, unsold luxury cars away from dust pits, dirt roads, deep water, jagged rocks, and other things that can cause damage.
Larry Zinn is the top distributor.
Long before the market was filled with premium SUVs, Land Rover’s retail outlets in Zinn held annual events that took consumers into nature to drive Land Rovers and Range Rovers in tough conditions.
Now that the segment that Land Rover helped create in the 1940s with the original 1 Series and then 40 years later with the sumptuous Range Rover is teeming with competitors, the stores’ annual off-road driving events have taken on much greater importance. . .
Each year, Land Rover broker Larry Zinn’s two retailers in Miami host an off-road driving occasion called Rover on the Rocks, informing consumers to drive on rough terrain.
“From a loyalty point of view, this is very good for us. It’s helping us stay in touch with our consumers and we had a wonderful time together,” said Zinn, 36, executive general manager of Miami-based Warren Henry Auto Group. .
In early October, Zinn’s two Land Rover outlets, Land Rover North Dade and Land Rover South Dade, hosted the annual Rover on the Rocks off-road driving event. The weekend show drew more than 400 consumers and some prospective buyers to a largely empty space in a mixed-use progression called Sole Mia, where Zinn created an off-road circuit to showcase the off-road features of cars selling its outlets.
In the late 1980s, when Land Rover returned to North America with the Range Rover, dealers had to demonstrate the vehicle’s off-road prowess, but while Land Rover occasionally dropped that requirement, Zinn, one of the brand’s first dealerships in the U. S. , was able to do so. In the U. S. , it never did. And the occasion has been celebrated each and every year since 1987.
From left to right, CEO Warren Zinn, CEO Larry Zinn and head of retail Katy Zinn at the annual Rover on the Rocks off-road event
Zinn may not say how much the company spends to level Rover on the Rocks, but that’s no small feat. A company is hired to create a challenging but safe driving circuit, full of obstacles that Land Rovers are designed to overcome. It includes driving over logs and through streams and exploring rocks. But attendees are absolutely difficult: there’s a giant air-conditioned hospitality tent on-site, as well as prepared food and a DJ, as well as a vehicle and prop show.
Customers who own or leased a Land Rover or Range Rover, Zinn said, can drive their own vehicle with an instructor or use one of the store’s demonstration vehicles.
“We tried to build the route to show [how the vehicle behaves] on slopes, slopes, inclined turns, articulation, water points. We’re trying to test those vehicles. And not just to show what vehicles are capable of showing consumers how visual the data is in the car with built-in sensors, cameras and tracking devices that most consumers never use,” Zinn said.
The vast majority of rugged SUVs are used for highway driving, and Land Rover’s off-road cars are no exception. They are asking to check them off-road.
Newer Land Rover models have features such as four-wheel steering, off-road cruising descent and cameras that provide a 360-degree view of the surroundings.
“I would say most of our consumers have no idea what cars are capable of and never use them for their other purpose,” Zinn said.
“Here in South Florida, where it’s completely flat, they have no idea off-road. “Other than a smart flood from time to time, you don’t enjoy much [driving in harsh conditions],” he said. “It’s an eye-opening delight for customers,” Zinn said.
The company’s annual occasion attracted more customers.
“One of our affiliates will get in the car with the visitor and drive him first to give him a lesson in how to take the course. The moment the visitor drives, whether it’s their own vehicle or one of ours, with our spouse in the passenger seat,” said Zinn, who has done several with consumers. He sat in the back seat and watched consumers interact with the Rover.
Zinn says there have been a few incidents over the years where cars have been damaged. “Naturally, this will happen off-road. We were lucky this time that the event is located less than a mile from our dealership. Take the cars directly to the workshop and have them repaired. It’s just one component of making the occasion. “
To help make the party even more fun this year, the store supplied GoPro cameras to the Rovers and made videos of visitors’ rides given to them after the event. And there were small Land Rover electric cars that kids could drive on their own. own miniature off-road circuits.
Zinn says the Rover on the Rocks obstacle course appeals to both men and women. Nearly a portion of drivers this year were women, he said.
Approximately 50 workers from Warren Henry’s Land Rover are managing the event; Shops remain open with a reduced team on the weekend.
Rover on the Rocks offers Warren Henry’s two Land Rover outlets the opportunity to showcase the wealth of accessories Land Rover has created for its vehicles.
Exhibits on the occasion encourage sales of parts such as wheels, brushes, tents and other off-road equipment. Zinn said that since many attendees bring their own vehicles, they take the opportunity to schedule service appointments.
The occasion also makes workers do their jobs better, Zinn said. “Everyone has the opportunity to take the course. Unless they pass on an educational trip, they don’t have the ability to drive those cars off-road, so they can be informed. “a new skill, which they can use for customers. “
Rover on the Rocks is more than a promotional occasion for Zinn. When their father, the company’s chief executive, Warren Zinn, introduced them in the late ’80s, Zinn and his sister, Katy, the company’s retail manager, were involved as children.
Zinn plans to continue Rover on the Rocks, holding it twice a year when possible.
“After the occasion is over, we regroup and gather our learnings about what we’ve done well, what we can do better and all the concepts to come,” Zinn said.
For decades, Land Rover and Jeep dominated the off-road vehicle market and the sumptuous Range Rover had no genuine competition.
That, of course, has changed, and the Range Rover in particular is increasingly seeing competition entering its territory, while other luxury brands such as Rolls-Royce, Bentley, Aston Martin, Maserati and Cadillac are launching six-figure SUVs.
Rover on the Rocks is helping to keep Zinn consumers from moving.
“We have consumers driving a Land Rover and they’ll see we have another model,” Zinn said. “They have the opportunity to drive this car and take it off the road. keep going. “
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