This content was originally published by the Longmont Observer and is licensed under a Creative Commons license.
Valley Mitsubishi-Longmont is the newest dealership addition to Ken Pratt Blvd, moving in the former Valley Subaru location, opening its doors in late February as a soft opening, and holding its grand opening on June 20th.
With only one other dealership in Thornton, Valley Mitsubishi-Longmont is the newest standalone Mitsubishi dealership in the greater Denver metropolitan area under an established local dealership group, which also includes Valley Nissan, Valley Subaru, as well as Prestige Chrysler Dodge Jeep RAM, Loveland Ford-Lincoln, Greely Nissan, and Greely Volkswagen.
“We’re excited to join the growing Mitsubishi brand and dealership network to introduce its lineup of capable and affordable vehicles to the residents of Longmont,” said Jay Weibel, dealer principal, Valley Mitsubishi-Longmont. “Our family-owned dealership network has been serving the area since the 1980s, and we pride ourselves on being small enough to know you, but large enough to serve you.”
The new Mitsubishi dealership is part of Mitsubishi Motors North America's ongoing initiative to expand its dealer network in previously untapped urban and rural markets, while also increasing visibility and awareness of the Mitsubishi brand across the country.
“We reached out to Mitsubishi. We had some space to add another brand. We have a relationship with the head of Mitsubishi Motors North America (MMNA). We've worked with him in the past with other brands. We believe in him, and we trust in him, Mitsubishi is a growing Japanese company. So, we reached out to inquire about possibly adding the brand and fostered a relationship,” said Troy Mewis, general manager of Valley Nissan.
Last year, MMNA expanded its national field operations network from two regions to four by adding new offices in Florida and California in an effort to reinforce faster customer support with parts, accessories, and service for their new Mitsubishi dealers. The other field operations are located in New Jersey and Texas.
"We are continuing to build momentum with the addition of Valley Mitsubishi-Longmont to our portfolio of dealers," said Greg Carrow, regional dealer network manager, western region, MMNA. "As we add new dealerships to previously untapped markets, we'll continue to work diligently toward improving and strengthening the shopping experience for customers across our entire North American dealer network."
With four unique vehicles in the crossover utility vehicle segment, including the Outlander PHEV, a plug-in hybrid CUV, MMNA posted overall sales of 118,074 vehicles in 2018. This was the brand’s best annual sales performance since 2007.
“It's a partial hybrid electric vehicle. It's a hybrid, electric, and natural combustion engine all in one. It uses those three kinds of technologies to get 74 miles per gallon. If you need the oomph to get up the hill, it will. It uses all those three technologies in congruency with each other. It’s just real cool tech. There's really not that many other cars like that,” said Weibel. “And you should see the screen on it, man, the screen is crazy because it has more information, and it's shooting more information to you than you can really consume.”
Valley Mitsubishi-Longmont is located at 1045 Ken Pratt Blvd and can be reached by telephone at 720-307-1097. They will be hosting grand opening events in July including a barbeque on July 13th.
“We are very, very selective on how we hire people. We want people that want to be here, and that like cars, and want to take care of customers,” said Weibel. “Some dealerships just hire anybody that comes in the door. We're very selective because we want the right people to make business convenient and take care of customers. We look for good people.”
