Our disciplines03 / Automotive Retail

Retail thatmoves.

We design dealership experiences
and the programs that take them places.

Prototype design. Brand standards. Rollout.

See how it comes together
Lincoln of China retail flagship at dusk, with illuminated patterned facade and vehicles visible through the showroom
Lincoln of ChinaPrototype design / Brand standards / Program delivery
What we do

Brand image designers.
Rollout partners.

We help automotive brands define their retail image, adapt it to a dealer’s operation, and deliver it across a network. One partner for the design, the standards and the places they become real.

  • Retail image & prototype design
  • Customer journeys & experience planning
  • Architecture, interiors & brand environments
  • Design standards & specifications
  • Global-to-local program adaptation
  • Dealer workshops & live 3D design
  • Site planning & operational programming
  • Design-intent documentation
  • Brand administration & program maintenance
  • Program & project management
  • Construction-document review for brand compliance
  • Dealer, architect & vendor coordination
One connected way of working

From a new retail idea to an established image program.
We can build the vision, carry it forward, or do both.

Give the brand a space.

We design the prototype: the building, the interior and the customer experience. Then we turn that idea into standards that can scale—without losing what makes the brand itself.

  • Map the customer journey
  • Develop the prototype in 3D
  • Define materials, details & standards
Architectural visualization of the Audi US market prototype at sunset
Audi / US market prototype · Visualization

Good company to keep

Relationships built over years.
Experience across design, brand and delivery.

Audi / US market prototype

A global brand.
A local understanding.

We designed Audi’s US market prototype, translating the brand into a retail environment for the way American dealerships and their customers work.

K5’s role / Prototype design & development
Visualization of the Audi US market prototype exterior at sunset
Audi / US market prototype · Visualization
Audi Nexus interior visualization: a two-level showroom with vehicles, material displays and customer gathering spaces
Audi Nexus / Interior visualization
Two ways to move a brand forward.

Or bring it to life.

A vision to build on. A standard to carry through.

Boulevard Ford seen from above, with the entry trellis, Ford badge, glazed showroom and a complete dealer site full of vehicles
Ford Signature 2.0 / Boulevard Ford
Ford Signature 2.0

The standard.
Made site-specific.

Ford designed the Signature 2.0 retail standard. K5 is its execution and project management partner—bringing the dealer’s needs, the brand requirements and the project team into the same plan.

That means tailoring the layout, documenting design intent, coordinating architects and vendors, and checking the details against the standard. Brand administration keeps the program consistent as it evolves.

A Ford partner since 2000. From Trustmark to Signature 2.0, the relationship keeps moving.

Explore the program
Updated Jeep interior visualization with vehicles, timber framing and integrated brand graphics
Jeep / Interior refresh · Visualization
Jeep / Interior standard

Bring the character
inside.

We developed an interior standard that brings Jeep’s character into the facility through materials, graphics and framed moments. Detailed design-intent packages made that direction repeatable.

See the work
Lincoln of China retail environment
Lincoln of China / Retail program
Lincoln of China / Design & development

A new market.
A considered experience.

Brand programming, prototype design, guidelines and site-specific documentation connected Lincoln’s identity with local expectations.

See the work
More ways the work takes shape

Beyond
one format.

Volkswagen White Frame facility at dusk, with an illuminated showroom, branded entrance and vehicles
Volkswagen / Since 2013

A long view.
A lasting partnership.

Volkswagen’s US rollout partner since 2013. Architectural design assistance and construction-document review, carried across a changing network.

Explore the program
You found Einstein.

A little brilliance.
A little mischief.

K5’s Einstein character working on a laptop

Einstein has a small but spirited place in the K5 world. For us, he stands for a simple idea: have fun while being brilliant.

Ask the unexpected question. Make a new connection. Enjoy figuring it out. That spirit belongs in the work, too.

The wild hair is optional.