Macklin Motors has completed the £1.5 million development of a new Motornation used car and van showroom in Lookers’ former Glasgow Volkswagen Van Centre.

Macklin Motors Motornation Glasgow, based in Darnley, is situated next to the Vertu Motors-owned car retail group’s Ford and Nissan dealerships, and will create seven new job opportunities.

Among the new recruits is Ian Hunter, who has been appointed as branch manager at the new dealership site from his previous role as aftersales manager at Macklin Motors Nissan Glasgow South business.

Hunter, who has been with the company since 2011 and is a previous service manager of the year winner, said: “I am very excited about this new challenge, every day I see something else taking shape at the site which is only adding to the excitement.

“I have some great ideas to put into place when we get the doors opened for the first day, even in these challenging times.

“We have a great opportunity opening this business and we are looking to hit the ground running by making sure we have some very desirable stock at great prices.

“I will be 100% focused to ensure our digital marketplace is the best it can be.”

Over 150 used cars will be accommodated at the new Glasgow Motornation site, along with a range of light commercial vehicles (LCV).

The facility features a 10-ramp workshop for car and commercial vehicle MOT’s, and a large six bay valet area.

Chris McKenzie, general manager of Macklin Motors Motornation Glasgow who also oversees the Nissan Glasgow South and Nissan Glasgow Central sites, said: “The dealership compliments our representation in the local area with Ford, Nissan and the Taxi Centre all in the same location and represents our commitment to growing the Macklin Motors brand in Scotland.

“We are expanding at a time a lot of people are scaling down and making redundancies, which demonstrates the level of customer confidence in the Group.

“This site will offer more job opportunities in the area and will eventually grow to employ 30-40 people which is fantastic for the local economy. We are ensuring that the stock will be highly sought-after vehicles and will hopefully bring a lot of people to the area to make a purchase.

“While in lockdown, we are also offering click and collect, free home delivery within 30 miles.”