Phil Long sets stage to expand Nissan sales in the Springs

0 Comments | Gazette, The (Colorado Springs), Sep 23, 1999 | by Jane Turnis

Phil Long Dealerships plans to fuel its Nissan sales with a new partnership and a move to a larger location, it said Wednesday.

Phil Long Nissan, now in Motor City, will shift northeast to 175 N. Academy Blvd. and be renamed Academy Nissan in coming months. The move will boost inventory, service capabilities and staff.

"We'll go from 11 service bays to 29. It's so much bigger there," said Jay Cimino, chief executive of Phil Long Dealerships. "As for inventory, probably in the next year we'll go to (selling) somewhere around 300 new and used cars a month." Phil Long Nissan now sells about 200 vehicles a month at its Motor City site.

The repositioning of another Phil Long property will make room for the Nissan expansion: Academy Ford, now at 175 N. Academy Blvd., is scheduled to move to the Chapel Hills Auto Mall on Oct. 4 and be renamed Phil Long Ford of Chapel Hills.

The company recently formed a partnership with Greg Burke, former general manager of Phoenix-based ABC Nissan, the largest Nissan dealership in the nation, Cimino said. Burke will become a major partner and general manager of Phil Long's Nissan dealership on Oct 1.

The moves come at a time when the Japanese carmaker is undergoing major retooling. France's Renault owns a controlling interest in Nissan Motor Co., and is investing in new products and systems.

"Some of these products are on a (customer) waiting list. We can't get enough of them," Cimino said. "The franchise is really getting stronger."

Nissan's new four-wheel-drive sport utility vehicle, the Xterra, and its latest Pathfinder and Maxima models are in high demand.

An extensive remodel of the former Academy Ford site is planned to turn it into a Nissan dealership. Cimino said construction is expected to begin in two weeks, and the new site is scheduled to open in December or January.

The Nissan dealership change is one of several the Phil Long Dealerships have made lately. In recent months it has also opened a new Saturn dealership at the Chapel Hills Auto Mall and purchased Denver Jeep Chrysler Plymouth.

Nissan represents about 5 percent of total sales for Phil Long Dealerships.

- Jane Turnis may be reached at 636-0235 or turnis@gazette.com

Story editor David Fondler; headline by Andy Obermueller