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Dealership expands
Page 48
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• Volvo dealership Hartshorne is further expanding its activities in the West Midlands. It is now responsible for the eight-bay Spa Blakemore workshop in Willenhall, as well as Poundlancl's workshop a few miles away.
"We're taking on some third-party work at Spa Blakernore—it's open round-the-clock, seven days a week—but the Poundland site is dedicated solely to Poundland vehicles," says Hartshorne sales director Brian Bachelor.
Hartshorne has also become a Volkswagen light commercial dealership, "We're operating from a temporary site in Walsall, but we've bought a place near Wolverhampton," Bachelor continues.
"Trading as VW Van Centre North Midlands, we've in effect taken over from P&O Roadways. We aim to set up three VW sites over the next three years."
On the heavy truck side, Hartshorne has maintained new sales at the same level as last year, he reports. "Customers are concerned about the likely behaviour of the economy over the next six months, however, so I think we'll start to see a downturn at is tonnes and above," he observes. The weakness of sterling is likely to prompt some price increases across the industry. Bachelor believes, which will affect the order take too.
"So far as used activities are concerned, we're finding that there's a healthy demand for good quality trucks up to three years old, just so long as the mileage isn't excessive," he comments. "Stock is turning over well."
The technician shortage continues to be a problem, so Hartshorne has reacted by `growing its own'. "We've built our own training centre at Burton-on-Trent, and we've got some good-quality youngsters coming through," he says.