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Lipscomb Cars are set for further expansion in announcing the relocation of their Fiat & Abarth franchise in Ashford to improved facilities alongside their recently opened new Volvo showrooms on the A28, Ashford Road Chartham.
The facility just 5 minutes from the Canterbury City Centre will house new vehicle sales for Fiat, Abarth, Jeep and Fiat Professional vans.It will also include used car sales and full aftersales facilities for these franchises including Alfa Romeo and will open during the month of August ahead of the busy September period.
The move has come to centralise operations for the East Kent territory following the demise of Northgate Garage Canterbury, Lipscomb will now assume responsibility for the expanded territories in addition to their Maidstone dealership which already serves West Kent and the Medway Towns which will now mirror their Volvo territory cover.
The facility located at its former Volvo showrooms will add the Fiat Professional van range to the Lipscomb Cars line-up, Lipscomb have recruited Andy Erridge to run the commercial vehicles operation having previously been responsible for the successful van operation management at the old Northgate dealership for many years. He is a welcome addition to the existing management team at Lipscomb as they look to build a greater presence in the area.
Staff from the current Ashford Fiat and Abarth site will move across with a recruitment drive already in place for additional staff for the enlarged operation. The old Ashford territory will now combine with the Canterbury territory to consolidate the Fiat Chrysler Automobiles representation plan.
Peter Barnes, Managing Director of Lipscomb Cars Ltd said:
‘We have been working to make this happen following the demise of Northgate Garage as it made perfect sense to locate the new dealership central to the enlarged territory. It has good road links and importantly being on the western side of the City has less congestion with easy access from Ashford and the coastal towns of Folkestone, Dover as well as Whitstable and the Herne Bay areas, these are all important areas to the Lipscomb Group.
Converting our old Volvo showrooms to house Fiat Chrysler is advancing well, this site is where we commenced trading nearly 25 years ago so it is great to see it with a new lease of life, it has always been a successful operation through the years so it is a great opportunity’.
The existing Lipscomb Ashford site will now make way for a planned redevelopment.
Lipscomb operate a recently completed standalone Volvo franchise on the A28 Ashford Road, Chartham Canterbury (Adjacent to the new FCA facility) and Volvo, Alfa Romeo, Jeep, Fiat and Abarth franchises from their modern 2.5-acre facility just off J6 of the M20 at Aylesford, Maidstone that includes a central trade parts operation for Kent together with the Group Accident Management and Smart Repair Facility.