The Donalds Group has shown its confidence in the Volvo and Mazda car brands and Ipswich itself with a £6m relocation to two new state-of-the-art dealerships.
The Donalds Group has moved its Ipswich Volvo and Mazda operations into new separate dealerships at the town’s Futura Park in a £6m plus relocation.
The plan had originally been to just relocate its Volvo franchise and leave Mazda in the West End Road dealership.
Donalds group marketing manager Benjamin Grant said that he motor group, seeing a bright future for both brands, decided to invest in creating adjacent dealerships at Futura Park.
“There would have come a point when our old Mazda building was too small and needed an update.”
As well as more spacious showroom and workshop facilities, the two sites boast plentiful customer parking, lacking at the West End Road site which is now on the market, and is a short walk from Waitrose supermarket and John Lewis at Home department store.
The move to the new dealerships has also seen the franchises recruiting, including taking on more sales staff, workshop technicians, an apprentice and a showroom hostess.
The Volvo site follows the brand’s Retail Experience concept, which reflects the company’s Scandinavian design philosophy. The showroom area has a Nordic open-plan theme with 40pc of the floorspace set aside as the Living Room – a luxurious oasis with wood and leather furnishings where customers can meet sales consultants, wait while their car is maintained or relax with a fresh cup of coffee.
The larger Volvo workshop, instead of being tucked away, out of view, at the back of the site, can be seen through large windows behind the hydraulic service desks which are height adjustable and can be lowered to suit disabled customers in wheelchairs.
The showroom can now accommodate eight Volvos but it more spacious surroundings and customers can find out more about the models via active tablet-style screens.
The new Mazda dealership has been designed with customer connection at the forefront, creating a modern, warm, boutique environment. A key area, deriving from Mazda’s new retail concept, is the ‘customer interaction zone’ in the showroom where customers can sit with staff and learn about products through technology.
A large, spacious seven-space showroom displays the full range of Mazda cars, a forecourt links the inside and outside while a bigger workshop now has seven bays.
There are also eight shared valeting bays for preparing cars for sale and customer collection.
Donalds Volvo is at 9 Crane Boulevard, Ipswich, IP3 9SQ – phone 01473 252484 – and Donalds Mazda Ipswich 7 Crane Boulevard – phone 01473 287788. Or log on to www.thedonaldsgroup.com
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