Elkins Fordland expands to become Elkins Auto Group

This past fall, Elkins Fordland added Chrysler franchises to its existing lot by expanding a small parcel of land towards the Beverly Four Lanes.  The franchises meant a return of Chrysler/Dodge/Jeep/Ram that had been missing from the Elkins market for about a decade and it brings access to those brands to the Route 33 region as those bands disappeared from the Buckhannon Auto Mall after the crash of the automotive industry.

At this point, there is a sales office near the roadway and the vehicles are compactly situated on the lot.  I would like to see if any permanent structures would be built and any adjacent property purchase to further expand the lot.

The organization as a whole is now known as the Elkins Auto Group consisting of Elkins Fordland and Elkins Chrysler/Dodge/Jeep/Ram.  

Star Motor Company is now part of the Martin Automotive Group

An article in the Clarksburg Exponent-Telegram on February 8, 2014 revealed that Star Motor Company in Clarksburg, West Virginia had been sold to the Martin Management Group of Bowling Green, Kentucky.  This organization has automotive dealerships in five different states including Hurricane Chevrolet in West Virginia.

It was said the transaction had already occurred and the current staff would remain the same and there was a new general manager.  The existing facilities would remain in place.

The name of the business has changed to Volkswagen Clarksburg and Audi Clarksburg.

Premier Automotive Group at University Town Center (Morgantown, WV)

Ah, the smell of new cars and new car showrooms!  Yep, there's a new dealership in town.  Actually it's a dealership in a new location.  Premier Automotive Group, which sells Chevrolet, GMC, and Buick, moved from the outskirts of downtown Morgantown, a building which was at least 50 years old to a brand new showroom with service facilities at University Town Center in Granville, West Virginia.  This new facility opened in late May 2013 with a grand opening in June 2013.  The move took the dealership out of a busy downtown corridor to a developing shopping center that features WalMart, Sam's Club, Dick's Sporting Goods, Target, Giant Eagle, and Best Buy among other stores.
This facility had been under construction for at least a year and is located on several acres.  The lot is flat with an entrance for delivery trucks and a main entrance that will lead you to the Chevrolet showroom.  Then there is a gap that will lead you to the Buick-GMC showroom.  The lot itself has marked parking spaces for vehicles for sale and marked parking spaces for customer parking.  There seems to be many spots available for customer parking.
I am sure the owners of this dealership has developed the facility for current and future needs.   Not many dealerships have the opportunity to build from scratch.   This shopping area is due for further expansion in the futre as West Virginia University has plans to build a new baseball stadium to feature college teams as well as minor league teams.  This retail area has recently been approved as a TIF district that will bring local taxes towards infrastructure.  The state of West Virginia also plans to build an exit from Interstate 79 to go directly into this shopping center.  

Star Motor Company on Bridgeport Hill

Star Motor Company recently opened a pre-owned sales center on Bridgeport Hill in Clarksburg, West Virginia.  This isn't their first foray with a satellite location outside of their main location in Clarksburg near Veteran's Park.  At that location they sell Volkswagens and Audi and Mahindra Tractors are sold in that location as well.
This new location opened in late May shortly after Country Club Chrysler-Dodge-Jeep closed a pre-owned center a couple hundred of yards to the west.  This location has an pre-fabricated office building which I believe is a renovated building that Hilltop Motors nearby had used prior to a fire.
This location has Star Motors signage that can be seen from Bridgeport Hill Road and has color animated signage below it.
What kind of vehicles do they have in stock?  Not just pre-owned vehicles, but they also have many new Volkswagens in stock.  I would estimate there were about 25 new vehicles and about the same number of pre-owned cars.
How permanent is this location?  The lot is still gravel and there is a portable building used as an office with no service facilities on site.  But the sign at the roadside looks to be a considerable investment.  There is also thought that once Mahindra Tractors move to the Meadowbrook exit of Interstate 79, the former Saturn building could be renovated into a Volkswagen showroom.
This new facility will give increased exposure to Star Motors to those who are car shopping on Bridgeport Hill with two General Motors and a Ford dealership located on the same strip of roadway.

Anthony Chevrolet-Cadillac Renovation

Anthony Chevrolet-Cadillac in Fairmont, West Virginia recently completed a renovation of their facility to showcase the current General Motors showroom image.  The project was designed by Omni Associates Architects of Fairmont.  Renovations include changes to the facade, waiting areas, offices,  floor tile, and some exterior signage.

New front entrance

Architect rendering in the showroom

Upgrades on Bridgeport Hill Road

If you have recently been following Harry Green Chevrolet/Nissan or Chenoweth Ford on Bridgeport Hill Road in Clarksburg, West Virginia, then you have been noticing big changes in recent months.  These two dealerships are in the midst of dramatic changes in their facilities that maintains their commitment to their current locations.  The additions, renovations, and construction that is occurring is affirmation that they are there to stay.  After the Great Recession, when there were very few cars on the lots and other dealers being eliminated by the automakers, these two dealerships are making major changes.

Let's start with Chenoweth Ford.  They have renovated the showroom during the winter and renovation is now happening to the exterior of the building The exterior will exhibit Ford's current image for dealerships.  Also, in the past two years, Chenoweth has added a Quick Lane facility in a building they had once used for truck sales and then used auto sales.  All auto sales are now take place in the main salesroom.

Harry Green Chevrolet/Nissan is taking a much more dramatic change with building entirely new facilities, starting with a new Nissan showroom slated to open this year and then a new Chevrolet showroom that will open next year.
Earlier this year, the Pre-Owned vehicle sales office, which was once the truck sales office, was razed in favor of a new dedicated Nissan showroom and service center that will open later this year.  This construction is putting space at a premium at the Harry Green site with vehicles being placed in other parts of the property and making access more difficult than before.
A new Chevrolet showroom will start construction late in 2012 when the Nissan showroom opens and the the current main building which is over 40 years old will be demolished once the new Chevrolet showroom is open.  This will divide the property into two distinct franchises each with their own sales offices and service centers.
Hopefully, we will continue to see growth in the local auto industry with further renovations and additions in the future.

Elkins Fordland

Front of the Elkins Fordland Showroom

Elkins Fordland has been in its current location for about a year following its move from just outside of downtown Elkins to the more commercial area south of Elkins on the 5-lane.  They had purchased and renovated a facility that had once been Mountaineer Chevrolet/Toyota/Volvo that had been out of business for several years.  The former Elkins Fordland location has been located in a building built prior to the 1950s and was woefully outdated for the 21st Century automotive business.  Elkins Fordland has been under its current ownership group since the early 2000s.

Side view of the Elkins Fordland Showroom

The new facility looks nothing like the former Mountaineer dealership as Elkins Fordland exudes the current Ford image.  The lot is set back behind several building, so the main building is not readily seen from the roadway; however there are several vehicles on display on the main roadway with signs pointing the way to the dealership.
The portion of the lot is currently displaying new cars and much the lot on the side is devoted to new trucks and SUVs with pre-owned automobiles being displayed to the opposite corner of the showroom.


Dealer website:  http://www.elkinsfordland.com/ 

Buckhannon Toyota/Scion

Buckhannon Auto Mall

Buckhannon Toyota/Scion formerly had Chrysler/Dodge/Jeep franchises prior to the dealership purge as a result of the Chrysler Corporation bankruptcy of 2009 and they also had a Subaru franchise.  Right now, there is only Toyota and Scion franchises as the location.  This dealership was formerly known as the Buckhannon Auto Mall having the slogan BAM33 that included the route the lot is located on.
This facility had been located in its current location since the early 2000s to a large location on U.S. Route 33 west of Buckhannon.  This dealership had been located in Buckhannon and the former building has since been subdivided into several businesses including a rent-to-own type of business.
It started out in this new location having Chrysler and Subaru franchises.  I am not sure what happened to the Subaru franchise as the nearest Subaru dealership is located in Bridgeport, more than 30 miles away.  There was a single showroom, then about 2005, Buckhannon Auto Mall acquired the Toyota franchise that was once Mountaineer Toyota/Chevrolet in Elkins, West Virginia.  At this point, Buckhannon Auto Mall had built an adjoining showroom to the main showroom that included an automated car wash that would feature Toyota automobiles.

Sign located along Rt. 33 notes time and temperature

They had the Chrysler Group franchises and I was surprised that they were part of the purge due to the relative new construction of the facility.  There is another Chrysler Group dealership in Weston, 15 miles to the west.  The name was formally changed to Buckhannon Toyota and they added the Scion brand, which is a smaller, hipper subbrand of Toyota.  Service facilities are located to the rear of the showroom with service reception bays.
It was then the opportunity for Toyota to be the only franchise in facility.  So in late 2010 into early 2011, the showrooms inside and out were renovated in the current Toyota image with the larger, older showroom being the Toyota showroom and the newer, smaller one featuring Scion automobiles.  The exterior walls of the showrooms light up at night.

Jenkins Ford - Buckhannon, WV

Jenkins Ford - Buckhannon, WV

Service Reception Bays

Front of Jenkins Ford 

Jenkins Ford has been in its current location for more than five years relocating to U.S. Route 33 west of Buckhannon.  This dealership had previously been located on a small lot in downtown Buckhannon on Main Street.  The dealer had outgrown that lot and moved to this  much larger location even after an extensive renovation of the original building around 2000.

The new Jenkins facility is located on a lot lot featuring new Ford vehicles.  Most of the vehicles are full size F-150s and F-250/F-350 pickups and chassis.  Jenkins Ford also had a Mercury franchise.  Ford Motor Company had dropped Mercury as a brand in early 2011 and signage had been removed from this building.

Jenkins Ford is known for a large stocking a large number of Ford trucks

Possibly the last batch of Ford Rangers you'll see on a lot

Jenkins Ford seems to service many fleet vehicles.  There are many oil and natural gas companies in the region and they tend to use Jenkins for sales and service.
Jenkins also has an ancillary building located up on a hill that rents Enterprise  and also some other service facilities.  There is also a Jenkins auto body shop located in Buckhannon city limits.  But most of the operations are located at this facility.

Jenkins is one of the largest Ford dealerships in the area in both size and number of units sold. 

H & M Motor Company

This is a small town dealership selling Chrysler/Dodge/Ram products on a small lot in Weston, West Virginia.  Within this facility is a showroom capable of holding 3-5 vehicles and a service garage in the rear.
H and M also has an adjacent property with an old gas station that has the pre-owned vehicles and some service bays as well.
There are approximately two dozen new vehicles on the lot with another thirty pre-owned vehicles.

Weston Ford

Weston Ford

I found this to be an unusual place.  Is this a new car dealership or is this a relic to the past?  First of all this dealership looks as though it hasn't been touched by modern conveniences since the 1970s.  Usually there are about 5 to 10 new vehicles on the lot, but really can't tell what else is available.  This facility also has a number of E-Series passenger vans available for rent for large groups.  They usually have some vans available at RG Honda-Yamaha in Nutter Fort.
That is because there are about 100 other cars and trucks in varying conditions throughout the property.  The property stretches out for a couple of hundred yards east to west.  There are rows of vehicles that haven't moved for decades.  There are mostly Ford products on the lot in fields that are rotting away.
The actual building itself is a brick garage with a showroom abutting out the front.  There is also a large "brick barn" like structure on the western end.  Inside the showroom are furnishings that are decades old and even the computers date back to the 1980s as well.
I don't know much about this dealership other than it is about 15 miles from two other more successful Ford franchises to the north and east.  This is a desirable location, but I don't see the ownership putting much investment, but this is a unique facility for what I have mentioned above!

Observations about cars in Korea

I had the opportunity to visit Korea this past summer for two weeks and I was intent on observing the automobiles and its industry.
South Korea is a thoroughly modern country with modern cars, trucks, busses, etc and with problems that go along with it.  A crowded city such as the capital of Seoul has tremendous traffic jams at all times of the day.  So utilizing the subway system is a great alternative to fight the traffic and the bus system seems to be very efficient as well.  But this country has a love with the automobile just like Americans do.  Traffic jams are much worse on Friday evenings, Saturday morning, and Sunday evenings as many Koreans escape the cities to the mountains for the weekend and then return.  (90% of Koreans claim they hike, which seems to be the national pastime).  There are some Jeep stores in Korea that sell Jeep branded clothing and outdoor supplies, not cars.
But this is blog focussed on auto dealerships and there are plenty there if you want to purchase a Hyundai or Kia.  In fact, over 90% of the Korean automotive market is made up of these two brands.  Other brands include SsongYong (owned by India's Mahindra) and Daewoo (owned by GM).  Most dealerships for these brands are located in storefronts that are about 1,000 to 2,000 square feet approximately with 4 to 5 automobiles in each showroom.  There is usually one representative sample for each model in the brand in each showroom.  In my observations, there was one or two salespersons each with a desk and of course there was the obligatory rack with brochures.  On top of each automobile was a price noting how many South Korean Won (currency) it would take to purchase the car.  If you want to figure out how much if would cost in American dollars, just divide the price by 1,000 and you get the price in American dollars.

Hyundai Avante, U.S. Elantra

Hyunadi Starex

Hyundai Starex

Pontiac Aztec Korean counterpart?

In Hyundai showrooms, the models were very similar in names and content.  The only model that had a different name was the Elantra, which is known as the Avante there.  Kia showrooms were set up the same way, except the models were named differently such as K5, K7, K9 among examples.  There were very little differences in most of the models between the U.S. spec and Korean spec automobiles.  But, I was impressed with most of the vehicles having automatically folding side mirrors so they won't get damaged getting sideswiped while parked.
Another difference is that navigation systems in the cars are very elaborate and detailed.  Most new and older automobiles will have at least an aftermarket GPS/navigation system that drivers rely on to avoid traffic jams, locate directions, and they seem to be much more trustworthy than here in the states.
Most of the taxicabs in Korea are late model Sonatas and what we know as Optima (K5).
Another thing about Hyundai is that it is a large conglomerate in Korea (even throughout the world) and it   owns the Kia brand.  Most Korean made Hyundai automobiles are produced in Ulsan.  Ulsan is known as a company town as it is home to Hyundai Heavy Industries (shipyards, heavy construction equipment, etc.) and most everything is branded Hyundai including department stores and hotels.  These other businesses are also located throughout Korea.  We toured the shipyard, but didn't tour the automobile plant, even though we passed it.
I would love to return to Korea even though I can't read a lick of Korean or pronounce anything, so everyone once in a while I would stop at a Kia or Hyundai dealership to get my fill of Korea for the time being!

Part of the large conglomerate!

Freedom Kia Clarksburg

Freedom Kia, Clarksburg

Freedom Kia has been open in Westover, West Virginia for several years in a former facility of a natural gas company.  This past year, Freedom Kia had expanded by locating a new facility in Clarksburg, West Virginia in a former Circuit City location that had closed in 2009.  The building had been empty in the interim and was available for lease/sale.  Early in 2011, Freedom Kia had posted employment advertisements in the Clarksburg Exponent-Telegram for employees to work in a new Clarksburg dealership in the spring.  I didn't see any new building being built in the area that would suit a car dealership but I had noticed that the solid block building that had been Circuit City was being retrofitted with large windows, a garage door, and a large 70/30 split glass door.  So that location was evidently was going to be the future location of Freedom Kia Clarksburg.

They had done very little renovation of the facility other than what was previously mentioned on the inside or outside.  The outside of the building was still painted in Circuit City red and white and the old Circuit City sign was still in plain sight behind the building and banners proclaiming "Freedom Kia" was hung onto the building.  So automobiles, new and used, were parked at the site and I wondered if the vehicles were to be serviced in Westover, about 30 miles away.

Service Bays

I took a test drive of a Sorento later in the spring, so I had the opportunity to visit and see the facility.  I saw they had placed a service department into what was the storeroom of the old Circuit City.  It seemed kind of tight, so I assumed it worked sufficiently for them.

Circuit City signs finally replaced by Kia

In November, the building was finally painted in white and black, I presume in Kia signature colors, and permanent signage finally replaced the Circuit City signs.  They also paved over a section of gravel they placed on the northern edge of the property near the service department.  There is very little land for future expansion.  Considering the popularity of Kia automobiles in recent memory, this location is seen to be a successful move for Freedom Kia.  I have seen other Kia dealerships that were placed in buildings that were either previously used in another industry or another car brand and this dealership continues the trend for Kia.

Enterprise Rental/Car Sales

Enterprise Car Rental/Sales has been located at Eastpointe in Clarksburg, West Virginia for at least the last five years.  They are located where Star Motor Company had a pre-owned location for several years in the 1990s.  Star Motors had an office trailer located at the site for sales.  Enterprise had built its current building prior to opening this facility.
This is a very busy location that is on a curve on busy Emily Drive, so it is very difficult to pull out of the facility and almost impossible to make a left turn out.

Enterprise Car Rental, Eastpointe, Emily Drive, Clarksburg, WV

I have rented vehicles from this facility several times in relation with my teaching job.  They usually had about a dozen cars and trucks for sale at the location and about another dozen or so for rental purposes.
I have noticed in the past month that there were less vehicles on the lot, namely the cars that were for sale.  I have concluded that they are no longer selling cars at this site according to their website which cites  Charleston, West Virginia being the only location that is selling cars through Enterprise.  The cars that Enterprise sold at this location were usually former rental cars that they needed to turn over their fleet and usually looked to be in good shape and were both foreign and domestic cars, trucks, and SUVs.

Mahindra of Clarksburg

I know Mahindra is currently not a car brand in America, but they do produce trucks in India and there have been rumors of Mahindra bringing compact diesel trucks here.
Mahindra produces medium size tractors that many American farmers use and they are currently being sold in Clarksburg, WV since the fall.  The reason I include this dealership in this blog because the dealership is located in the in the former Saturn of Clarksburg showroom on the property of Star Motor Company.  With the Saturn brand ending a couple of years ago due to the reorganization of General Motors, this building was not utilized for several months until Star Motor moved their pre-owned operarations into the building.  They had painting the building to tan and light gray moving away from the white, black, and red that Saturn had been known for.

I do not know the relationship Mahindra of Clarksburg has with Star Motor Company, whether they are the same owners or Mahindra leases the property from Star Motors.  At this point there is no permanent signage on the building

Uniontown, Pennsylvania's Superior Drive

In the early 2000's, a couple had purchsed the Buick-Pontiac-GMC franchise in Morgantown, West Virginia and the Ford franchise in Uniontown, Pennsylvania as well as Dunbar Honda outside of Uniontown. They branded these dealerships under the Superior name. In Uniontown they had purchased land and graded the hillside about a mile from Uniontown Mall and christened the roadway "Superior Drive". There they bult three showrooms and service facilities, one for Chrysler-Jeep-Dodge, another for Honda-Nissan, and a third for Ford. Within 3 years, Nissan elected to move the local franchise to John Howard in Morgantown, Honda had closed shop as well as the Ford dealership. The Chrysler-Jeep-Dodge showroom in 2007 was taken over by Tri-Star which in turn closed their Chrysler-Jeep-Dodge showroom in Connellsville, Pennsylvania. In 2009, the hill has seen a sort of a revival with Nissan returning to the hill but to the Tri-Star Chrysler-Jeep-Dodge building. The Honda franchise was restored under the name of "Fayette Honda" and Ford returned under the name "Ford of Uniontown". In 2007, the Morgantown GM franchises became "Premier Pontiac-GMC-Buick" and has since dropped Pontiac due to the demise given to Pontiac from GM.

Cash For Clunkers

The U.S. Government's program of paying $3500 or $4500 per car turned in for the purchase of a new car was taken advantage of. There was an initial budget of $1 billion and that was spent in a week or two. Then Congress appropriated an additional $2 billion. This lasted for about 2 more weeks.
There have been over 400,000 vehicles that were traded for this program. Most of the vehicles I have seen redeemed were SUVs, full-size pickups, and vans. The program is ending on Monday.
There are dealers complaining. What are they complaining about. They are complaining that they are not being reimbursed for the money they put up front for pay $3500 to $4500. Just like typical government red tape! Dealers are also complaining that it has depleted their supplies. Today, I saw GM, Toyota, Ford, and Chrysler dealerships without any new cars and just a handful of trucks. It is true that some factories were shut down or put on hiatus this summer. But the factories have been able to supply the dealerships with 2010s yet. It is going to take several weeks to get the dealerships back up to typical supply. Hopefully the dealerships will be able to sell cars once this program is over.
Also, others are complaining because there will be less access to used parts. Those Cash for Clunkers (C4C) cars that are in dealer lots are going to be scrapped. No parts will be stripped from them and the engine is disabled. The cars will be crushed. I have seen many lots in the area and there was one car that was a rarity. It was a 1986 Merkur XR4Ti. That was a car that has some history in the United States as it was built in Germany to be a sports competitor to BMW in the Mid-1980s. Some others are complaining that in our recession with a credit crunch, people are extending their credit to buy a new car that they may not be able to afford. I hope that this isn't true as I'm hoping people were looking for a good time to trade in their old vehicles.

Country Club Chrysler - Dodge, Clarksburg, West Virginia

Country Club Chrysler-Dodge is located on U.S. Route 19 South of Clarksburg. This dealership formerly sold Plymouth prior to the phaseout of that brand. This dealership is different from other Chrysler dealerships as they are a Sprinter and a BusinessLink dealership. Much of their service is devoted to fleets needing repair. This is the only Sprinter dealership in the area. This dealership has not changed much in past 30 years except for some signage. There is currently a body shop on the hill adjacent to the main showroom. This dealership changed hands in the past couple of years as Jack Stewart is the current owner of this dealership.
This dealership in the past had local print and television advertisement with spokesmen being West Virginia University Football coaches Don Nehlen and Rich Rodriguez.

PS 12-27-09 In November 2009, Country Club added Jeep to their lineup following Chrysler pulling Jeep from Harry Green in Clarksburg during the summer. At this point, much the advertising in print and TV is focussing on the Jeep brand as well as placement of Jeep vehicles close to the showroom.

Star Motor Company - Clarksburg, West Virginia

Star Motor Company is an Audi-Volkwagen-Saturn dealership near United Hospital Center in Clarksburg. This dealership has been in existence since at least 1990. They used to sell Mercedes-Benz until the late 1990s. This dealership had been operated by another operator prior to Star taking over. Star Motor Company had been a used car dealer that had a location at the current Eat n' Park at Eastpointe II in Clarksburg. After Eat n' Park purchased that lot, they moved their used car lot to Eastpointe Shopping Center to the location where Enterprise Car Rental and Sales is now. They had a sales trailer at this location that has since been moved to Bridgeport Hill Road and operated by another used car dealer.
Back to the location near United Hospital Center, the Saturn dealership was added around 1995. A couple of years ago, the hill in back of the dealership has been leveled to create more storage for vehicles. Around the same time they took over the former Stoneybrooke Medical building and converted it to an Enterprise car rental agency. That building has since been leveled and the lot is being used for used car sales.
Star Motor Company services vehicles in the service bays at the rear of the main showroom and they also have a body shop. The Saturn showroom will be empty by 2011 with the demise of the Saturn brand. It will be interesting to see if another brand will replace it in that location.

Al Schoroeth Oldsmobile - Subaru - Isuzu Clarksburg, West Virginia

Al Schoroeth (sic) was an Oldsmobile and Subaru dealership in Clarksburg near the United Hospital Center. It was taken over by Cowan and added an Isuzu franchise in 1987. About 1993, L & S from southern West Virginia took over the dealership and it had finished up as Mountaineer before it closed in the late 1990s. The facility had a showroom and service bays as well as a body shop. Cowan had invested in a new Isuzu showroom out of former service bays in the rear of the main showroom. Cowan had painted on the side of the service bays "The Service Professionals" whose signage still exists today. The building is in miserable shape and had been emtpy for several years before a trailer sales company moved in (they also rent U-Haul).