Turners hails $36m expansion

Turners Auto Retail has opened its newest branch in Christchurch, which completes a $36 million expansion of its operations in the city.

The business at 750A Wairakei Road, Burnside, just minutes from the airport, started trading on July 21 and its opening comes after new Turners branches were also launched in Hornby and Moorhouse Avenue this year.

The Wairakei Road site will operate as a full-service Turners Cars branch, offering vehicle buying and selling, along with on-site finance and insurance services. 

It will have about 150 vehicles available for sale at any given time and 50 in preparation. 

Across all three Christchurch branches, Turners expects to have about 1,300 vehicles on-site when operating at full capacity, with between 500 and 600 available for sale at any one time. 

The company says this represents a 40 to 50 per cent increase in capacity compared with what was previously available when it was just running a branch at Detroit Place, which has now closed.

Turners will hold weekly wholesale auctions for Christchurch at the Hornby branch, but online facilities will allow for vehicles from all three city branches to go under the hammer. 

Greg Hedgepeth, chief executive officer, says Christchurch has been a key focus for the company and he was pleased to see momentum building.

“With three full-service branches now open, we’re making it easier than ever for locals and dealers to access quality vehicles.”

Turners also thanks Cook Brothers Construction, Schick Civil Construction and local subcontractors who helped deliver the Wairakei Road facility.