• Car Dealer Plus
No Result
View All Result
  • Latest
  • Used Cars
  • Live
  • Forum
  • Power 2020
  • Used Car Awards
  • CDX
  • Knowledge
  • Suppliers Guide
  • About Us
  • Latest Issue
  • Top 100
  • CD Plus
  • Latest
  • Used Cars
  • Live
  • Forum
  • Power 2020
  • Used Car Awards
  • CDX
  • Knowledge
  • Suppliers Guide
  • About Us
  • Latest Issue
  • Top 100
  • CD Plus
No Result
View All Result

Motorline ‘very excited’ to be opening with Nissan in Reading this month

Dave Brown by Dave Brown
September 9, 2015
0
Home News

THE chairman of the Motorline Motor Group has spoken of his excitement as the company prepares to open a strategically important new dealership next week.

The firm is to launch a Nissan showroom in Reading, roughly mid-way between its Kent roots and some recently-acquired outlets in south Wales and the West Country.

Speaking exclusively to Car Dealer, Glen Obee explained how the Canterbury-based firm started to acquire businesses in Bristol and south Wales and then began to look at opportunities along the M4 stretching west from London.

The opportunities came about because of Motorline’s relationship with Toyota. Motorline holds franchises with a number of car makers – including Peugeot, Renault, Dacia, VW, Skoda and Maserati – but Toyota is the firm that Motorline has represented for the longest time, having first formed a partnership in 1976.

Obee told us: ‘A couple of years ago, we were invited by Toyota to consider Bristol and we bought a couple of businesses down there from the Sytner Group. A month after doing that, we found out that the buyer of three of their businesses in Cardiff and Newport had backed out.

‘We were then encouraged to buy those three dealerships as well and I’m pleased we did. And although it was a little challenging for the first six to 12 months they are all now very healthy and making money.

‘We’re getting very familiar with the M4 corridor and, more recently, a number of our brands have said to us if you’re driving down that M4 corridor we’ve got a potential opportunity for you on the way down.

‘We’ve been resisting the temptation to try to cross the dots off along the map because that’s not originally what we set out to achieve. Having said that, we are about to open in Reading with Nissan, which we’re very excited about.

‘That will be our first investment along the M4 corridor. It’s exciting news.’

Although Motorline’s relationship with Nissan is relatively new, the partnership seems to be flourishing.

‘We first took Nissan in 2006, when we bought a part of the former Whitehouse group,’ Obee explained. ‘We bought a site in Dartford which had an outgoing Rover franchise and Nissan too.

‘We bought the site and invested in the site there. Since then, we’ve got what will soon be our fifth dealership coming on board. We have a couple of other things happening with Nissan as well. Nissan is, and will continue to be, a significant brand partner for us.’

So what makes the manufacturer so well regarded by the team at Motorline?

Obee explained: ‘Although the company clearly has very strong Japanese origins, what we like about them is that they have a very urgent way of doing business. They’re very quick at giving you answers. They know what they want to achieve and they feel like a European car manufacturer in terms of the energy and speed with which they make decisions.

‘I suspect some of that has been helped by the fact that they have a huge investment in Sunderland. Certainly, their cars, driven by Qashqai I guess, have been very successful at following European tastes and European design lines.

‘I think that’s always a challenge for a Japanese-cultured company but Nissan have achieved it very well.’

  • Read the full Car Dealer interview with Glen Obee in issue 91 of the magazine, out on September 21.

MORE: Benfield: We’re in safe hands after Lookers takeover

MORE: It might have been summer – but new car market still powered ahead

MORE: Nissan announces massive investment in Juke production

On SuperUnleaded.com: Jaguar F-Pace or a new transformer?

 

Related Posts

Daksh Gupta & Robert Forrester Car Dealer Live graphic
News

Listed dealer group bosses Daksh Gupta and Robert Forrester on Car Dealer Live at 1pm Wednesday

March 2, 2021
From left, Andy Wildy, Andy Coulthurst, Tim Carr of Trade Centre Group
News

Trade Centre Group reshuffles board as it prepares for growth with showrooms reopening and new site

March 2, 2021
Volvo’s UK dealer network ‘more important than ever’ despite purely digital future
News

Volvo’s UK dealer network ‘more important than ever’ despite purely digital future

March 2, 2021
Bumper marketing campaign
News

Auto Service Finance rebrands as Bumper as it’s named one of the fastest growing companies in Europe

March 2, 2021
An aerial view of Wilsons new and used car supermarket in Epsom
News

Wilsons launches ‘game-changing’ revamped website as it eyes national car sales market

March 2, 2021
Porsche Cayenne
News

Porsche Cayenne is named the most expensive vehicle to repair based on warranty claims

March 2, 2021

Want the latest news?

Sign up to Car Dealer's daily news email updates

Subscribe
How many car dealerships does each manufacturer have in the UK? Car Dealerships Locations List 2021 revealed
News

How many car dealerships does each manufacturer have in the UK? Car Dealerships Locations List 2021 revealed

February 24, 2021
Used Car Awards with Mike Brewer and James Baggott graphi
News

Who won what at the Used Car Awards 2020? Mike Brewer reveals our winning car dealers

February 11, 2021
Car Dealer issue 156 front cover and Used Car Awards
Online Magazine

Out now: Car Dealer issue 156 features our Used Car Awards, H.R. Owen CEO Ken Choo and lots more

February 23, 2021
Used car market stronger than ever as August sees sales up by nearly 50 per cent for Big Motoring World
News

Opinion: Here are 10 reasons why I think there’ll be a rapid recovery in car sales when lockdown ends

February 16, 2021
Trophy Cars forecourt
News

Investigation: Meet the hyper-specialist car dealers making their money from weird and wonderful motors

February 11, 2021
Become a Car Dealer Plus member and get more out of this website including free legal advice
News

Become a Car Dealer Plus member and get more out of this website including free legal advice

January 15, 2021
Car Dealer Top 100 – The list in full of the most profitable car dealers in the UK
Car Dealer Top 100

Car Dealer Top 100 – The list in full of the most profitable car dealers in the UK

February 10, 2021
Bitcoin ATM terminal
News

Will car dealers in the UK accept Bitcoin for payment? Dealers speak out after Tesla plans to accept cryptocurrency 

February 18, 2021
  • Latest
  • Used Cars
  • Live
  • Forum
  • Power 2020
  • Used Car Awards
  • CDX
  • Knowledge
  • Suppliers Guide
  • About Us
  • Latest Issue
  • Top 100
  • CD Plus
Call us: 020 8125 3880

© 2020 Blackball Media

No Result
View All Result
  • Car Dealer Plus
  • Latest
  • Used Cars
  • Live
  • Forum
  • Power 2020
  • Used Car Awards
  • CDX
  • Knowledge
  • Suppliers Guide
  • About Us
  • Latest Issue
  • Top 100

© 2020 Blackball Media

Log In
Register
Register
Server C