Chalk up another first for the Wood Automotive Group with the opening of Okotoks Volkswagen. The store is a satellite operation of the Wood Group’s South Centre Volkswagen in Calgary and is unique in Canada.
“Okotoks Volkswagen builds on the success of our South Centre location,” says Gerry Wood, executive chair of the Wood Automotive Group. “It has a smaller footprint than most traditional dealerships but offers the same exceptional service. This may be the first, but it’s the model Volkswagen Canada is following closely.”
“Reaching out to customers. Bringing more convenience to customers and bringing them the level of service that is expected from owning a Volkswagen, so for us its so important to be well located,” says Pierre Boutin, president and chief executive officer, Volkswagen Group Canada, who traveled to Okotoks for the store opening. “We’ll be working with and following Okotoks Volkswagen closely to bring success here and across the country.”
Okotoks Volkswagen is in the former Okotoks Ford store on Westland Road. The building has undergone a near total transformation with renovations build to Volkswagen’s exacting standards. It now includes a modern, customer-friendly showroom, and a state-of-the art service department with twelve service and detailing bays including a specialty bay for electric vehicles. The bank of EV charging stations has two available for public use.
Joshua Buchanan, the general manager at South Centre Volkswagen has responsibility for the Okotoks store as well.
“This is such an exciting opportunity,” says Buchanan, “We love Calgary customers, but we will be the first to reach out to welcome new customers from throughout Southern Alberta. There are a lot of VW fans in the sunny south.”
Buchanan says that sales have been strong since opening day in mid-July, and the service department has a steady stream of appointments.
Okotoks Volkswagen is part of the on-going growth of the Wood Automotive Group. The company will be moving its Big 4 (Chrysler, Dodge Jeep, Ram) store on Macleod Trail, to a new dealership now under construction in Taza Park, near the Grey Eagle Casino on the Tsuut’ina Nation. The store is scheduled to open in 2023.
