Midlands Truck & Van is building a new Mercedes-Benz and Fuso dealership in Birmingham that is due to open in October.

The Smethwick site is considerably bigger than the dealer group’s existing service department in Saltley.

Midlands Truck & Van said it will be reviewing its shift patterns to establish a seven-day working week.

The building’s open plan reception area has been designed and will be furnished in line with the latest Mercedes-Benz corporate standards.

The new building will also incorporate a Parts department which, at 650 square metres, represents a 25% increase on the shelf space currently available to the dealer.

A 1,580 square metre, drive-through workshop will include an Authorised Testing Facility (ATF) at which inspectors from the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) will undertake annual MoT tests, an ADR bay allocated to work on fuel tankers and related specialist equipment for transporting hazardous loads, and another bay fitted with rollers for the installation and calibration of tachographs.

Meanwhile, Midlands Truck & Van’s own technicians will carry out MoT tests on light commercial vehicles in the Class 4, 5 and 7 categories, at times – night or day – best suited to customers. 

In addition to these dedicated workspaces, routine maintenance and repairs will be carried out in a further 11 truck bays – each, at 24 metres, comfortably long enough to accommodate an articulated tractor unit and semi-trailer combination – and eight van bays.

The opening of its new dealership will mark the completion of a major programme of investment in its branch network by Midlands Truck & Van, one of two Mercedes-Benz commercial vehicle franchisees owned by Northern Ireland’s Ballyvesey Holdings Group.

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