Motor retail developer Gilbran has started construction work on a new Mercedes-Benz dealership in Truro for City West Country.

This will be the final development, adopting the latest franchise corporate identity, to complete the group’s four-site Mercedes territory in the south west of England.

Gilbran, a specialist in sale and leaseback, bought the group’s existing Exeter dealership and developed two new sites in Taunton and Plymouth on behalf of CWC. The showrooms, workshops and office facilities are all to the latest brand guidelines.

The Truro project is being developed on the site of an existing, smaller Mercedes outlet, which will continue to trade until the new outlet is finished, due to be in March 2007.

“The agreement with CWC has enabled the group to evolve the retail sales space to meet new brand guidelines without having to finance these changes themselves,” says Nigel Smith, Gilbran’s managing director.

“This flexibility is vital for a business that values its future, and will become increasingly important to motor retailers as manufacturers look to use the power of their brand and brand image to differentiate their marques, in some cases instigating major rebranding exercises to keep it fresh.”