Detroit Subaru store stuck it out, and won

DETROIT — Bill Garcia and Felipe Mendiola have seen Subaru evolve from an unknown commodity to a popular brand over the last four decades as Midwestern retailers.

And operating Hodges Subaru in Metro Detroit, in the shadow of the domestic auto industry, where tens of thousands of families have long-standing loyalties to Ford, Chevrolet and Dodge, has been a test at times for the location's co-owners.

It wasn't uncommon for a passing motorist to yell obscenities or anti-Japanese sentiment at either Garcia or the store.

"People would drive by and shout at us," Garcia recalled.

But those moments didn't deter him or Mendiola.

The store began selling Subarus in 1972, relatively soon after the brand entered the U.S. It has been offering Subarus exclusively since 1981 — a time when U.S.-Japan trade friction generated sparks and Japan's automakers routinely were blamed for job losses in and around Detroit.

Hodges stuck it out and ultimately expanded.

Today, it markets itself as "Metro Detroit's Subaru only dealer" in ads. Before acquiring the Subaru franchise, Hodges sold DeSotos, Triumphs, Renaults, Peugeots and Saabs, all from a small dealership in Ferndale, just north of Detroit.

In those early days, many Subaru stores were in gas station-sized buildings. Hodges' cramped showroom could fit just two vehicles. But as volume grew, the store ran out of sales space and service capacity. The company began using a nearby satellite building to handle the expanding service business.

In 2015, Hodges moved a mile down the road to its current location in Ferndale, just north of the intersection of Detroit's Woodward Avenue and 8 Mile Road, where it more than tripled its space.

"The trick is making sure you provide consumers with new products," Mendiola said of the growth of his store and Subaru overall. He oversees sales at the store while Garcia does the same for service.

Subaru made a clear effort to freshen products when the Great Recession decimated the auto industry.

Garcia pointed to the 2009 Forester and 2010 Outback and Legacy as products that helped the store power through the recession. Subaru of America managed to grow its market share during the era, from 1.2 percent in 2007 to 2.7 percent by the end of 2013.

"Even in the recession, we were still solid," Garcia said.

The work force at Hodges has doubled to 39 people in the last 10 years. Both sales and service are up since the move to the bigger space. December was the retailer's best-ever month, with sales of 88 new vehicles.

"There is not a doldrum day in service, parts or sales," Mendiola said. "There are always people here."

Garcia and Mendiola have been boots on the ground during all the growth and changes the automaker has gone through. The customer base continues to grow.

Mendiola is now selling to new generations of owners, Garcia said.

"He is selling cars to the daughters and sons of our customers, and also to their daughters and sons," he said. "There's a great loyalty to the brand."