THE AWARD-WINNING Wessex Garages in Newport is joining the Renault and Dacia franchise with the opening of a new hi-tech dealership in the city – creating up to 12 jobs.

The expanding car company will open a purpose-built 3,831 sq ft Renault and Dacia showroom in August alongside its current Kia, Fiat and Hyundai ones at Newport Retail Park.

Keith Brock, managing director of Wessex Garages, which also has dealerships in Bristol, Cardiff and Gloucester, said: “We are extremely proud to be a part of Renault and Dacia’s expanding dealer network. It is an exciting time for us too as we have seen sales across all of our dealerships increase over the past 12 months.

“Our new £500,000 refurbed, hi-tech dealership will look absolutely fantastic. It will be modern and fully interactive, catering to customer’s needs and enhancing their experience. People will be able to watch videos about the cars and services available and can make use of a digital lounge, including free Wi-Fi, to help them select the perfect new car for them. It will be a relaxed environment where customers can make their own choices.

“We will start trading at the new nine car showroom in August, which will help create around 10 to 12 jobs in the area, which is great news for local people. The showroom will officially open in October with a VIP launch.”

Darren Payne, sales director at Renault Group UK, said: “We are delighted to have a successful and well-established dealership like Wessex Garages join the Renault Group UK network and strengthen our presence in South Wales with their fantastic new showroom."

Wessex Garages will also be stocking the brand’s full range of vans and electric vehicles and there will be a new electric charge point for customers enhancing the M4 corridor for electric charging.

Keith said: “We have really seen the potential of investing in the Newport area and now have more dealerships on the Welsh side of the bridge than in Bristol and Gloucester.

“We’re delighted we can add to the already fantastic offerings of Newport Retail Park. We feel that Renault and Dacia sit really well alongside our existing brands and most importantly our customers will have a wider range of vehicles to choose from, making our Newport site a ‘one-stop-shop’ for people.

“The new dealership represents a huge investment for the city. Newport is now the place to be when it comes to buying new and nearly new cars.”