Twelve months after taking over the ChryslerJeep franchise for the Highlands and Islands the John R Weir Group is building sales following a slow start.

Top-seller in Northern Scotland is the Cherokee, with the facelifted 2.8 CRD the star performer in January. Grand Cherokee and PT Cruiser are popular buys and there’s a trickle of Voyagers – but Crossfire sales are weak.

The Inverness-based outlet shares showroom and workshop space with Weir’s established Mercedes franchise on Longman Road.

It was awarded the ChryslerJeep territory after near neighbours Seafield Motors gave up the franchise at the end of 2003.

“Initially sales were slow but we’ve been building our customer base and 2005 looks set for 100 new units and 65 used,” said Weir’s site general manager Jim Chalmers. “January was particularly good for us – we hit 200% of target and enquiries for spring are going well.”

The Inverness Chrysler-Jeep franchise is one of two held by the Weir Group in Scotland – the other is in Perth where a new showroom for the range has recently been completed.