Waylands has followed-up its recent expansion with Kia with an appointment to represent the Volvo Car UK franchise from a newly-built showroom in Bristol.
The new agreement will take the AM Awards 2020’s Best Dealer Group up to 10 sites to six franchised locations in total, five of which (Newbury, Oxford, Reading and Swindon) are with the Swedish premium car brand.
Trading from Waylands’ new Bristol franchise will commence in mid-August with the completion of the 17,000sq-ft Volvo Retail Environment (VRE) dealership at the former Rolls-Royce Works in Filton.
Waylands chief executive, John O’Hanlon, who featured in an AM dealer profile in September 2019, said: “We are excited about this opportunity. It fits perfectly with our other Volvo representation and cements further our already strong relationship with the brand.
“This further increases our scale, following our recent acquisition of Waylands Kia in Reading, and sets the business on track for £160m turnover in a full year of trading.”
O’Hanlon added: “From this site we will be able to offer world class levels of experience to our customers and our teams, but we will also have capacity to ensure we can deliver on the huge potential of the Bristol territory for many years to come.
“We look forward to opening the doors in mid-August, when we can welcome customers and colleagues, old and new, to our stunning new dealership.”
AM reported on the creation of the new Volvo Car UK dealership site in Bristol back in September last year.
A statement issued by Waylands today (April 9) said that the group had been working with Volvo UK and site developer St Francis Group throughout the construction.
The site is part of the Horizon 38 regeneration project and neighbours the Cribbs Causeway Mall and Retail Park and is one of the last remaining plots with frontage onto the A38, benefiting from proximity to both the M4 and M5.
Waylands’ statement said that its “prestigious eight-car showroom” will incorporate the welcoming Volvo “Living Room”, and powerful charging points for the brand’s range of new electric vehicles (EV), which include the new XC40 Recharge and forthcoming C40 Recharge.
The dealership will offer over 70 Approved Used units from across the Volvo range, all covered by Brand’s “Selekt” scheme, it added.