Jennings has taken on the Subaru franchise for Middlesbrough, spending £800,000 – including some TV advertising – on adding the marque to its existing Ford, Mazda and Seat dealerships there. It is also the first dealership in the country to get the new Subaru corporate ID.

The dealership has a four-car showroom, and is separated from Seat (also new this year) by a dividing wall. The dealer principal is Warwick Maddison. Ford and Mazda are in separate showrooms on the seven-acre site, which cost £6m to develop including purchase of the land.

Jennings’ group sales and marketing director, Nas Khan, comments: “Even before we have started to advertise, there have been as many visitors to our Subaru showroom as any of our other franchises and these people stay longer and ask more in-depth questions. I am amazed at Subaru’s following.”

Subaru has 87 dealers, including five new appointments this year and 10 more “waiting in the wings”, says the brand’s national franchise development manager Terry Leach. In addition to Jennings, there are new builds planned in Cardigan, Fife, Nuneaton and Doncaster.

There is also major refurbishment scheduled for sites in Bournemouth, Milton Keynes, Wincanton, Brighton and Basingstoke. Birmingham, Manchester, Watford, Chester and Truro are among the comp-any’s 20 key open points.