Hodgson is opening Europe’s first 32-car tower showroom at its new Mazda dealership in Gateshead next month.

The concept sketch shows what the new showroom will look like and is the first project from Hodgson’s Autopod business.

Building was originally scheduled to start in November 2009, but was delayed due to Hodgson putting “all hands to the pump” during the recession. Construction on the site started in January this year and is due to finish towards the end of October.

Mazda is the first franchise to go ahead with the tower development from Autopod and another is planned for the future.

Autopod was set up in 2008 as a joint venture between Hodgson and Whelan Construction and allows dealer staff to stack demonstrators in pods on top of each other. The company was created out of necessity as a remedy for dealers without space to display expanding model ranges from manufacturers.

The company secured an exclusive agreement to jointly develop bespoke parking systems, vehicle display towers in the UK and Europe for the German manufacturer Nussbaum.

Now Autopod has a working example to showcase it will be on the look out for business from dealers, as well as for use with hospitals and potential interest for the 2012 London Olympics.