Next Monday, Ondo, a Mercedes-Benz dealership, and Bi-Ondo Motor, a Mitsubishi Motors dealership, currently located in Gamarra, will open a new dealership at number 26 Alto de Armentia, a commercial area at the entrance to Vitoria-Gasteiz where the premises of some of the car brands established in the Álava capital are located.

From its founder’s beginnings in the car business in 1960, in a workshop on Calle Reyes Católicos, to the current dealership in Gamarra, several extensions have been carried out and the business has been affected by the growth and improvement of Álava’s roads. The dealership is now split across two sites, making the most of each location.

According to company management sources yesterday, the truck workshop will remain in Gamarra, at the junction between the A-1 and N-240 roads, in a prime location for freight transport with easy access to the facilities. The van and Mitsubishi workshop will also stay in Gamarra, as will the bodywork operations, with panel beating and paint services, which customers use only occasionally. A workload of around 10,000 vehicles serviced per year will be maintained there. The over-the-counter spare parts sales service, meanwhile, will be offered at both sites, to trade and private customers alike.

According to the figures provided by the company, the Mercedes and Smart sales departments — for both passenger cars and commercial vehicles — along with Mitsubishi Motors sales and general administration are moving to Armentia, to the site formerly occupied by the firm Comercial Alberdi, across an area of some 4,000 square metres. A new 2,600-metre workshop for cars and SUVs is also opening there. The active reception model will be introduced at the site, with an area designed for going over each vehicle with the service adviser using Mercedes-Benz technology.

Gamarra currently handles 20 vehicles a day at the German brand’s car workshop. From now on, the location of the new premises within the town will make it easier for customers to travel to the workshop or to buy a spare part. Footfall at the workshop is therefore expected to rise noticeably at this location.

Access to the workshops and the spare parts service will be from Calle Iruña Veleia, on the side of the block. The Alto de Armentia premises, set on a 16,000-square-metre plot, have undergone a thorough refurbishment over the past seven months, seeking maximum energy efficiency and respect for the environment (ISO 9001 and 14001). With this, Vitoria will be one of the pioneering dealerships in rolling out the new corporate identity designed by Daimler AG for the European dealer network, taking a further step in the digitalisation of information and sales processes. The complex will also feature the latest diagnostic and repair equipment, 3D aligners and a pre-MOT line, among others

ELECTRIC CHARGING The demands that the rapid development of the electric vehicle will soon bring have also been taken into account, with several fast-charging points installed and spare capacity left in reserve, easily convertible as it is needed. The workforce, of close to eighty people, will be split almost equally between the two sites according to the location of the department where they carry out their work.