Construction has begun of a new home for Inchcape's Volkswagen car dealership in Exeter.

The 35,000sq ft showroom and workshop will rehome the VW operation later this year from its current base at Marsh Barton onto the Matford Green Business Park.

The same business park development will also become home to Lexus Exeter, which operator Snows Group will relocate from its current site, also at Marsh Barton.

Work on that planned 24,000sq ft new property is set to begin soon.

The two dealerships are the first buildings to be built on Matford Green, a 27-acre site which has planning consent for up to 500,000 sq ft of employment space and a pub, restaurant and small-scale retail facilities.

Ralph Collison, partner at Alder King which, together with Colliers International, is instructed to market Matford Green, said: "2014 was a record-breaking year for the new car market, which benefited from improved consumer confidence, competitive pricing, strong finance initiatives and increased footfall to showrooms.

"With forecasts for 2015 looking strong, forward-thinking dealerships are taking the opportunity to upgrade and extend their floor space to showcase an increased number of new models.

"Investor appetite within the automotive sector is also very strong and we wouldn't be surprised to see interest in both the new and older showroom facilities in Exeter over the next 12 to 24 months."