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| Service five minutes away |
You only have to ask most car owners in and around South Bayview to learn how much they resent the lack of automobile sales and service in our area. The collapse of 2008 caused a near blood bath among local dealers — Yonge Toyota, Brennan’s on Bayview, Roy Foss at Eglinton and Brentcliffe — all gone. The promising new auto sales centre on the site of the railway lands vanished with the bankruptcy of General Motors. But still we have the old standby, Gyro Mazda, on Laird Drive and this company is also wisely expanding to create a Hyundai dealership at Laird and Industrial St. across the road from the Mazda outlet. This is excellent news for all South Bayview and leads the way for business, municipal and federal leaders to bring more car dealerships to the dormant industrial lands on the east side of Laird Drive. And the wisest course, in our view, would be to forget about the cash-strapped and top-heavy American-based firms like GM and Ford. Emphasis should be on manufacturers with less developed systems. Hyundai and its Korean cousin KIA come to mind. But there are car makers in China, India and Europe who should be encouraged to take a look at Laird Drive. Those who settle here will be able to tap a rich market of households whose car owners are fed up with driving to Front Street or Steeles Ave for service. It is frequently said that Hyundai is determined to break into the North American market by building better and more stylish cars. In the case of Gyro Hyundai on Laird, it will also be going where the business is located. May it prosper.
