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Western Finished in Glasgow

7K views 19 replies 10 participants last post by  Ali_ 
#1 ·
Just been in Western Glasgow which has just had a full re vamp to total Lexus now no more Alfa sales but they said they will still do warranty work on Alfas. Seemingly Edinburgh will still sell Alfa for now what the fxxk is happening all of Scotland only one garage selling Alfa now wonder people are going elsewhere with that and no new models !!!
 
#3 ·
Arnold is supposedly opening a dealership in Hillingdon and I suspect will probably put some in with their Jeep franchises at some point in the future.
.....and that 1 word is enough to ensure my return to direct ownership (I still have a 'share' in 'our' Giulietta) of any Alfa requiring dealer involvement is guaranteed not to happen.
 
#7 ·
Arnold is supposedly opening a dealership in Hillingdon and I suspect will probably put some in with their Jeep franchises at some point in the future.
Close! Arnold has opened a new dealership at Hillington but it's for Renault/Dacia, along with head office, finance, marketing, group IT department etc. Paisley and Glasgow Pollokshaws Renault dealerships have closed down and moved there, Paisley Fiat and Abarth dealership was also supposed to be moving to there but is now staying in Paisley.

Arnold has opened an Alfa dealership already though for the West of Scotland, its a dual Alfa/Jeep franchise at their Linwood Vauxhall dealership in what was the Chevrolet showroom before Chevy pulled out of Europe.

This is likely to be the only Alfa sales dealership this side of the country as I don't think the amount of Alfa sales justifies any more, this new dealership will just about do OK for Alfa sales if it handles the majority of sales in the West.

In addition to Western for aftersales theres also an Arnold Clark at Springburn (Fiat, Abarth and Kia) which is an Alfa authorised repairer and in Edinburgh again in addition to Western theres an Arnold Clark Fiat at Sighthill. Really odd having 2 dealers in Glasgow and 2 in Edinburgh for aftersales but other than the new Linwood place and Donald Mackenzie in Inverness theres none anywhere else in the country.

I am also told Westerns at Colinton Road are supposed to be relocating to elsewhere in Edinburgh.
 
#6 ·
I received a telephone call this morning inviting me to a promotional week-end and I'm sure they mentioned the opening of a 'new show room'. Since I use Glasgow for warranty / service visits I presumed it was Western Glasgow dealership that rang me? (Number was withheld so I couldnt check)
 
#8 ·
Was speaking to Western Edinburgh and it looks like more positive things are starting to happen. They're 99% certain they'll be moving in to Sighthill in Autumn, the siye that used to be Weir Toyota, next to Chatham Skoda. Sounds like it'll be a joint Alfa/Jeep dealership initially. Not sure how that'll work once Alfa have two similar SUVs though.
 
#9 ·
Hi, not too disappointed with regards to Western having lost Alfa, we bought a car (beautiful 159 sportwagen Ti) and their service and attitude was horrendous!!! We only had the car 8 weeks, 6 of which was mostly spent with them as they could not find fault. We eventually had to trade the car in, at a loss, and have now moved away from the brand - we were hoping to keep the 159 and buy the new Gulia when it eventuallly arrived on our shores!! Can't begin to put into words our disappointment with Western's attitude, lack of respect etc., the excitement we felt at buying our new Alfa, totally gutted we will probably never own one again. We have also formerly purchased an Alfa (156) from Arnold Clark, teeth are grinding at the thought of them having such a classy and sophisicated brand as Alfa, their ignorance astounds me.

Sorry for the rant, looking forward to Italian Car Day in Fife - although will be parked away in another field with our non-italian car - will be slabbering over a few italian babies I'm sure!!!!
 
#10 ·
Well, looks like that's the end of Western Alfa. Was just in trying to put a deposit on a Giulia QV only to be told by Gordon that they can't take a deposit because Colinton has been sold and is closing down at the end of this month! He said the Western management and Alfa UK have been meeting but no agreement has been reached and they now don't know if Alfa will get a new building or if Western will drop them altogether. Great news if you get a problem under warranty in Scotland! What a shambles. Guess I'll be spending my money at Jag or Lexus insteaf, then. :(
 
#11 ·
I was recently having a 'general motoring' conversation with a member of the senior management at a major niche-market dealer in Edinburgh and, reading between the lines, there was certainly a serious hint of them having an interest in this area. As things were described as "being in the very early discussion stage" I can't reveal any more at this stage as it may or may not come to fruition but I'm keeping everything crossed that Arnie Shark won't have it all his own way.
 
#13 ·
Belmont have the two Jeep franchises in Edinburgh. I've only ever dealt with Belmont Vauxhall and that was no better than dealing with Arnold Shark. However, other John Martin franchises have been better. Their Murray Volvo/Mazda (as was) franchises are very good.
 
#14 ·
I was under the impression that Western were moving from Colinton to Sighthill, former Western Toyota dealership and latterly Western Nissan used cars before it along with the Nissan new sales from Corstorphine Road and aftersales from Stenhouse Mill Lane all moved to Newbridge under the 1 roof. Supposed to be a joint Alfa/Jeep dealership because from now on all Jeep dealers will also be Alfa dealers etc.

I suppose that also leaves the Colinton Seat franchise hanging as well if theyve sold the site and nowhere for it to go either.

That means it leaves only 2 sales dealers in the whole of Scotland (Arnold Clark at Linwood whove recently opened Jeep/Alfa at their Vauxhall dealership) and Donald Mackenzie in Inverness (who have just recently took on the Jeep franchise to go with Alfa but also operate Fiat)

The rest are all service only dealers, Western Glasgow at West Street, Arnold Clark Glasgow Sprinburn Road, and Arnold Clark Edinburgh Sighthill Bankhead Drive.

Arnold Clark ran a lot of Jeep franchised dealerships, Aberdeen, Ayr, Dundee, Elgin, Glasgow, Linwood, Perth.

Of those, Only Aberdeen, Linwood and Perth still have Jeep franchises, Glasgow closed completely because it moved to Linwood and as mentioned is also Alfa anyway. Jeep was dropped at the other branches, so im thinking are the new Alfa dealers who are coming on board going to be Arnold Clark Aberdeen and Perth.

I dont think JM Group/Belmont run Jeep in Edinburgh any longer, they did have it at Sighthill alongside Kia, Mitsubishi, Suzukim Volvo and Lotus but i believe their only Jeep sight is at Wallyford, still Edinburgh region but not techincally Edinburgh itself is it? Im not sure because im a westcoaster!

But I guess the Alfa franchise model is to run it similar to Audi, only sites in major towns and cities and not having loads of dealers selling hardly any cars. So if my theory is right that would give dealers In Inverness, Aberdeen, Perth, Edinburgh and Linwood plus aftersales in Edinburgh and Glasgow too. Would imagine this would be enough to cover the Alfa sales for the whole of the country.
 
#16 ·
Border Cars in Ayr (Mazda & Mitsubishi dealers) have now become a Jeep franchise, got temp signs up on one of their showrooms so wonder if they will become Alfa dealers down there now that all Jeep dealers are supposed to be dual franchising with Alfa. Oddly Arnold Clark in Ayr still have Chrysler Jeep signage up on the former Alfa showroom, all the Jeep brochure stands etc. although the showroom is full of Abarth 500s now.
 
#19 ·
Whats happening with Western, anyone know? the chat further up in this topic seems to be that they dont know whether Alfa will be dropped or whether they are relocating, the only thing thats certain is Colinton is closing, but with Colinton also being Seat I assume they must have somewhere to relocate Seat to on that side of Edinburgh being as Arnold has Seat for the other side of Edinburgh at Seafield.
 
#20 ·
Western are dropping Alfa. They'll carry on the Glasgow servicing but that's it. Seat is being taken over by Fife Seat and Alfa clients are being directed to Arnold Clark Linwood for sales or Arnie FIAT for servicing. Yuck!
 
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