Stoneacre Motor Group is carrying out a £1 million redevelopment of its iconic Mushroom Garage car retail operation in Rotherham as part of a process which will usher out its Honda and Mitsubishi franchises.

Work is already underway at the dealership site on Herringthorpe Valley Road, Rotherham, which will switch from its previous Honda and Mitsubishi franchises to Renault and Dacia when its doors are re-opened early next year.

Philip Wade, franchise and development director at the £1.06 billion turnover AM100 franchised retail group said that the move had come as the business looks to consolidate some of its operations following the acquisition of Mill Volvo in October last year.

Wade told AM “We have relinquished the Honda franchise at Mushroom Garage as it was always a satellite for Chesterfield and we can handle all Honda sales from either Chesterfield or Sheffield, it was just extra unnecessary expense and Honda have always had the site marked for release once we had secured a new franchise.

“We retain the Honda aftersales agreement so we can continue to service Honda customers locally.”

As AM exclusively reported in June this year, Honda is currently implementing a new franchised dealer network strategy which will see it cut up to 55 sites over the next “two to three years”.

Commenting on the change of representation at the Mushroom Garage, Wade added: “We have a similar issue with Mitsubishi as they are represented in Sheffield and Chesterfield too and the area has been divided between those sites. We also retain the aftersales agreement for Mitsubishi.”

Stoneacre has a mutual agreement with Renault/Dacia to extend its representation with the brands – currently comprised of Renault Blackburn, Renault/Dacia Chesterfield and Renault/Dacia Stafford – and the new Rotherham franchises are part of that agreement.

Describing the nature of the changes to the landmark Mushroom Garage site, which is known for its rooftop vehicle display, Wade said: “It is our intention to retain the basis of this iconic building whilst extending full Renault/Dacia style cladding to provide the most impact when driving past, the inside of the building is being totally reformed and modernised to incorporate the latest electric vehicle technology.”