PEORIA – Though he’s sold Hyundai vehicles for many years, this is the first time Mike Miller has had a dealership dedicated solely to the brand.

Miller broke ground on the new facility in September of 2021 on the vacant lot next to his Pioneer Parkway Kia dealership, which housed both brands for many years. Construction is in the final stage of completion, and the dealership will open for business Nov. 7.

“We’ve already had people stop by,” Miller said while standing in the spacious showroom. “I’ve been sending them next door.”

The 23,500-square-foot facility has a modern, light-filled design. Even the service center has natural light, thanks to glass-paned garage doors. The facility was carefully laid out to ease the movement of cars in and out of the building, and there is even a dedicated bay where a car can be parked so its future owner can admire it while filling out paperwork. The bay is equipped with a charging station to power up Hyundai’s new electric brand, Ioniq.

“We have the Ioniq 5, and then we will have the 3 and the 7 in the future,” said Miller. “Everything is going electric at some point. I don’t know if it’s going as fast in Peoria as it is on the coasts, but it’s coming.”

Miller has seen many changes in the years he's been selling cars in central Illinois. A Deerfield native, Miller moved to the area in 1987 for a job in the car business.

“I was in Bloomington for five years when they opened up the Mitsubishi store, when the plant was over there, and I ran that store. Then I came over here in '92, and ran this store for 15 years - I was a partner with O’Brien. Then I bought him out in 2000," said Miller of Dan O’Brien, who had auto dealerships in both Peoria and Bloomington.

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At that time, Miller sold Hyundai, Kia and Mitsubishi. He later began selling the Genesis brand.

Building a dedicated facility for the Hyundai brand was dictated in Miller’s franchise agreement with Hyundai. Just like people who own a fast-food franchise, car dealers must are told how facilities should look, and about every 12 to 15 years they are expected to change things up, Miller said.

With material shortages still making construction difficult, 2021 might not have been the best time to construct a new facility, but Miller is glad he did it. He’s already appointed a general manager and plans to hire a total of 20 to 25 people. He’s opening at a time when car shortages have finally begun to ease a little. Just this past month the dealership has gotten a few cars on their lot available for purchase – people can now walk in, buy a car, and drive it home the same day.

“Inventories have gotten a little better,” Miller said. “It’s gotten a little bit easier. We’ll see how it goes. I mean, this is a temporary thing, where we’ve got a spike in inventory. I don’t want to say it’s going back to how it used to be... Who knows what’s going to happen with the chips.”

While the selection of available cars is still modest, wait times have also eased. It now takes four to six months to order a car. At the worst of the shortages, it took more than a year.

“We had a guy wait for a Genesis for a year and a half,” said Miller. “And he was a friend. I heard about it the whole time.”

Leslie Renken can be reached at (309) 370-5087 or lrenken@pjstar.com. Follow her on Facebook.com/leslie.renken.

This article originally appeared on Journal Star: Peoria businessman to open modern car dealership soon