The Clinton Baulch Motor Group Nissan and Kia dealership officially opened the doors on its multi-million dollar Raglan Parade site this week.

Dealer principal Clinton Baulch said the move had been about four years in the making and was needed to cater for growing demand.

“It’s on 8000-square-metres of land, which is twice the size of what we had,” he said.

“We were growing bigger and we needed more space.

“Logistically, being beside the Homemaker Centre and this being one of the biggest growth corridors is pretty important to us.”

Mr Baulch said the new location would make the most of more passing traffic, and the location next to the Homemaker Centre allowed customers getting their vehicles serviced to check out the shops, spreading the dollars further.

“We sold a couple of cars on Thursday. We’ve been busy,” he said.

The development, on a formerly occupied by a motel, cost about $6 million and has 32 staff.

As well as its new showroom and car yard, it also boasts a state-of-the-art workshop for the dealership’s seven technicians.

“It’s really impressive, we’ve moved with technologies,” Mr Baulch said of the new workshop. 

“We’ve got nine operational hoists, a wheel alignment machine.

“We can do all our own tyres. Anything that needs to be done to a motor car, we can do all in-house now.”

The area was rezoned to allow for the development, something Mr Baulch describes as “great for Warrnambool”.

The motor group’s Chrysler, Jeep Dodge and Izuzu ute dealership, which underwent a full renovation a few years ago, is still located on Raglan Parade in west Warrnambool.

The new site is part of a huge investment in the city’s car dealerships, injecting millions into the economy.