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.