In February 2015 Shropshire based dealer group Greenhous purchased two Ford dealerships in Newtown and Welshpool in mid-Wales from WR Davies. Over the last 18 months the Newtown Ford business has been redeveloped to accommodate a new Transit Centre. To help run the group’s first Ford outlets Greenhous employed Tony Mellish, who had wide fleet experience wiht Ford. Initially fleet ...
Read More »Dealer Profile: Lexus of New Orleans
One of the highlights of ASE’s annual trip to the Nada Convention and Expo is the visit to a local dealer to see first-hand how cars are retailed in the US. This year it was the turn of Lexus of New Orleans. The long established family-owned business is part of the Price LeBlanc Auto Group, now run by the eponymous ...
Read More »Dealer Profile: Fine Cars
Fine Cars proudly proclaims on its website to be the UK’s biggest-selling approved-used Kia dealer of all time. The family-owned company has a string of awards, particularly for its used performance, all the more impressive as it operates across just two compact locations. Its main sales outlet is on the corner of two residential streets, yards from the beach, in ...
Read More »Dealer Profile: WR Davies
The last two years have seen major changes for mid-Wales based family-owned dealer group WR Davies. In February 2015 the Welshpool and Newtown Ford outlets, established as the company’s first major franchises in 1966, were sold to Shropshire-based Greenhous. Then in July 2016 Toyota outlets in Shrewsbury and Telford, along with Nissan’s Telford franchise, were acquired from Greenhous. WR Davies ...
Read More »Dealer Profile: TrustFord Epsom
Earlier this year the factory-owned TrustFord group opened a purpose-built FordStore in Epsom, Surrey, with GM Lucy Curtis at the helm TrustFord Epsom opened in April following a £4m of investment programme. The new-build dealership in the Longmead Industrial Estate replaced two separate sites operated by the group in the Surrey town. This impressive looking new business plays an important ...
Read More »Dealer Profile: Rolls-Royce Bristol
The opening of a new Rolls-Royce dealership is a rare event with just seven showrooms covering the UK. The latest purpose-built addition is operated by Rybrook Group, rated 28 in the Motor Trader Top 200, and sits alongside McLaren, Lamborghini and Bentley and a top-end specialist used cars outlet in Cribbs Causeway, just north of the city centre. The new ...
Read More »Dealer Profile: Vertu Motors Seat Derby
Seat Derby was acquired by Vertu Motors in 2010 and earlier this year completed a £250,000 refurbishment ahead of the brand debuting the Ateca, its first SUV. In April Mark Currie was appointed as general manager having accrued plenty of experience with the brand, having previously been at the group’s Seat Barnsley site for five years, prior to which he ...
Read More »Dealer Profile: Arbury Motor Group
The opening of a new Seat showroom in Solihull this month adds another franchise to the diverse portfolio of the expanding Midlands-based Arbury Motor Group which formed with just one Peugeot outlet in 2000. Now, 16 years on, the group owns five Peugeot sites, together with two Nissan outlets and Skoda, Citroën and Fiat centres. It has also opened a ...
Read More »Dealer Profile: Swansway Chester
It’s all go. A year ago Motor Trader was shown around Swansway’s brand-new £6.1m Stafford Land Rover dealership. Next month construction begins on a Jaguar dealership in Crewe. It is a build that coincides with the official opening of the new £4.3m multi-franchise centre in Chester representing Fiat, Abarth, Jeep, Alfa Romeo, Citroen and DS. Swansway now represents Abarth, Audi, ...
Read More »Dealer Profile: HR Owen Maserati London
At first glance the premises of HR Owen’s Maserati London centre look modest, reflecting the space restrictions faced by all dealers operating in the capital. The approach is low key with the seemingly compact centre located down an unassuming driveway in South Kensington. Initial impressions are deceiving, however, and stepping inside reveals a tardis-like interior with a dozen cars on ...
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