A sum of $40 million has been invested by listed motor group Tan Chong International in a high-tech car storage and delivery centre.

The four-level facility, with about 400,000 sq ft of space, which opened on Monday, is RIFD-enabled. It comes as the maiden auto hub with Radio Frequency Identification capability in Singapore.

With the help of this technology, Tan Chong is able to store over 900 vehicles in one compact location, through an automated stacking system. An RFID tag is given to each vehicle before it is stored. Any stored car can be retrieved within minutes with a simple touch of a button.

Thus, it saves a lot of time and fuel, needed by the manual system of storing cars, apart from preventing an occasional dent or scratch. "The new facility at Sixth Lok Yang Road doubles as a car dellivery centre.

Customers can collect their brand new ride in air-conditioned comfort, and start the engine indoors because of an extraction system that is attached to car tailpipes and removes exhaust out of the building," said a source. Twelve cars at one time can be delivered by the facility dubbed TC Nissan Hub.