In a bid to boost new and used car sales by 77% to 2,300 units over the next 18 months, Citygate Colindale on Edgware Road, London, is set to undergo a £5m refurbishment.

The work will see the dealership’s showroom capacity increase from 10 to 16 cars, which will be housed over two levels, while used car storage doubles to 120 vehicles.

Parking facilities have been enhanced to feature a horseshoe-shaped drive, rather than one entry and exit point, and there will be 18 spaces when construction is complete.

In order to prepare for the construction works at the main Edgware Road site the group, which holds six Volkswagen franchises across the south-east, moved its service operation from there to nearby Capitol Way three months ago.

“The existing site will remain open throughout the refurbishment and we have undertaken some temporary measures to assure all of our customers that we are still very much open for business,” says Chris Deefholts, operations manager at Citygate Colindale.

As part of the refurbishment, which is due to be finished in August, Citygate has also integrated its LCV sales operation into the Edgware Road dealership. Deefholts says this should help increase new and used LCV sales to 1,200 units, up from 745 in 2006.

Furthermore, the old LCV dealership at Carlisle Road will now be refurbished to house a trade parts operation. Plans for this will be finalized over the next few months.


The dealership remains open during refurbishment