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SMITH Knight Fay is to transform its Green Lane Volkswagen site at Stockport into a multiplex that will include Lexus and Mazda.
TEXT: When completed in July, the 6.5 acre site near junction one of the M60 will house dealerships for VW, Lexus and Mazda.
The first stage of the programme involves refurbishing the existing VW operation to adopt the car maker’s piazza-style appearance, with a colonnade and video-screen wall. This is scheduled for completion by 1 January.
Work on the Mazda and Lexus sales and service facilities is expected to start shortly and be completed by July. Then, Stockport Lexus will move from its temporary premises in Town Hall Square and Knightsbridge Mazda from the town’s Great Portwood Street site.
Together, the three dealerships will house 400 new and used vehicles. Tyre-fitting facilities, paint shops and MoT bays will also form part of the development.
This investment follows that already ploughed into new site developments by Smith Knight Fay in the past 24 months, with the launch of Audi dealerships in Stockport and Bolton, a Toyota centre in Denton and the recent refurbishment of its Bolton VW franchise.
And, last week, the group’s web site – smithnightfay.com – went live, linking all its dealerships and letting them automatically update stock as vehicles are bought or sold.
Founder and chairman of the company Graham Knight said: “Today’s generation of customers expect and deserve the very best of friendly, high quality environments wherever they are shopping – and that includes car dealerships.”
He described the new facility as “a major milestone in the company’s expansion”.
“With vehicle list prices falling,” he said, “we anticipate demand for new and use vehicle rising over the next few years.”
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