Leavens Volkswagen
On the outskirts of London, Ont. an impressive new auto mall is taking shape. Designed to provide auto retail customers with a one-stop shopping experience, the mall, which is a dealer-owned and funded project, will comprise a number of new vehicle retail locations, as well as a gas station, Tim Hortons restaurant and possibly a rental car operation and retail banking facilities.
MacMaster Chevrolet Cadillac Buick GMC
Initially, four dealerships will be in residence with new buildings for Leavens Volkswagen and London City Chrysler opening in January 2014, followed by MacMaster Chevrolet Cadillac Buick GMC and a brand new franchise in the shape of London City Mazda. The last two are slated to open in March 2014.
Chris Leavens, dealer principal, Leavens Volkswagen, says the new auto mall represents an exciting new chapter for automotive retail in the London area.
“Myself and the other dealers were looking for larger premises,” said Leavens during a phone interview with Canadian auto dealer. “We formed an alliance and looked at a number of different locations.” Leavens and the other dealers, who include Brian Semkowski and Rick Baker at London City Chrysler and Ken MacMaster finally settled on farmland out by the airport.
London City Mazda
Leavens says he and the other dealers, bought the land in 2010 and spent a couple of years having it re-zoned before construction began. He says there could ultimately be as many as six stores on the 37-acre site, in addition to the other proposed amenities.
Leavens, whose father Ed opened the original Leavens Motors store back 1958 (initially a British Leyland franchise and then Volkswagen from 1977), says he’s very excited about moving into the new location. “We’ll be going from a 12,000 square foot facility to 35,000.” He’s also been recognized as one of the very first Volkswagen stores to incorporate LED lighting throughout the showroom.
Leavens says that with the surge in volume — from 200 new cars per year to 500 at present, the new location will provide Leavens Volkswagen with ample room to grow and cater to its customers. “We have a team that is second to none,” he says. “We’ve been multiple winners of the Wolfsburg Crest Club and it is great to be able to operate out of a facility like this — the branding is spectacular. We could not have designed a better building than this ourselves.”
London City Chrysler
