USED TO LUXURY
Phillips Auto thrives in a competitive market by offering exotic cars that someone else has already driven.
They have a lot full of exotic foreign automobiles and trucks, but Malcolm Phillips insists he is in the toy business. The big-ticket toy business, that is.
"We sell toys," Phillips said. "It's a way of life here to own an exotic vehicle."
Phillips has owned and run Phillips Auto, in the Mariners Mile section of Newport Beach, for the past four years.
Since everything on his 30,000 square foot lot is a luxury used vehicle, Phillips does not compete directly with the other dealers who sell Mercedes Benz, BMW, Porsche and other high-end brands fresh off the boats from Europe.
A quick glance at some of the prize gems, including a Silver 2001 Porsche Turbo, a Black 2000 BMW 745i, a Red Ferrari 360 Modena and a Black 1999 Mercedes Benz SLK 230.
Phillips moved to Corona Del Mar from South Africa in 1976 with $50 in his pocket. He had travelled Europe for four years before that and was looking to find his career path. After selling clothing at a men's clothing store for six months, Phillips took a job selling European cars at a dealership in Buena Park. By 1984 Phillips had secured his dealership license and began buying and selling luxury cars on the wholesale market. Many of his clients were other car dealers.
Phillips grew out of the Santa Ana warehouse he was using by the late 1990's and decided to move to West Coast Highway into the former Miller's Landing slot, across from the Balboa Bay Club. Phillips sank $300,000 into the building in improvements.
With his decades of experience in the car business, Phillips has been enjoying a run of success of late. In 1999, he opened a second Newport Beach location, at Birch and Bristol streets, as a service center for the vehicles.
He stresses the importance of customer service.
"The reason for my success, is that I've been in the business so long." Phillips said. "And, I'm extremely hands on with the business."
Phillips has a staff of 24 employees, including six sales people. About half of his staff are women.
Even with the city seemingly saturated with dealers, selling luxury vehicles, Phillips says competition is a good thing.
"It's a healthy competition," Phillips said. "The more luxury dealerships we have, the more people are going to come to this area to buy the cars."
Call Malcolm if you’re looking for a pre-owned vehicle or want to have him help sell your car with his consignment program.
Malcolm's number is 949-574-7777