Nissan believe in power of the tower
Paris has the Eiffel, in Pisa it leans – there’s the Shard and the Gherkin in London and even Blackpool has one.
Now drive along the M8 in Glasgow and it has its own new landmark – the Nissan Tower.
The spectacular glass tower sits next to the motorway and highlights what will be known formally as Macklin Motors Nissan Glasgow Central.
The construction work has been some time in the making and represents an investment of £6million by parent group Vertu who operate 11 Nissan sites throughout the UK.
Robert Auld, who has been appointed general manager of the dealership, said: “We’re very excited to see the building complete. It’s looking fantastic, the glass panelling in particular is something really unique and we’re delighted with it.
“Macklin Motors are currently the only Nissan dealer in Glasgow and we’re looking forward to cementing our place as the No.1 Nissan dealer in Scotland, delivering the very best customer experience for all our Nissan customers.”
What they – and anyone else driving past – are going to see is the striking tower with at least two cars on each of its eight storeys. It is a fantastic showpiece for the dealership which will also have a lower showroom for visitors to browse both new and used cars at their leisure, whether they want them for work or play.
Customers will not be expected to climb the Nissan Tower, although watching the cars being taken up and brought down may become something of a tourist attraction in the city.
There will also be a full range of vans and an MOT and service centre, meaning that everything a customer may need will be available in one useful centre.
But it is the products that are going to be the real stars.
Nissan’s cutting- edge technology has already introduced the groundbreaking Leaf, Europe’s best-selling electric car, now with a range of 155 miles, and from that comes the company’s award-winning electric van the e-NV200 – all of which will be available at the Tower.
But so too will be a terrific range of cars including, next year, the new Micra Gen5, the latest iteration of the great little car that has now been on our roads for an astonishing 30 years. It comes packed with a whole pile of safety features and should be a real attraction in the Tower next spring.
Around about then the company will also be celebrating the tenth birthday of one of the UK’s most popular cars, the Nissan Qashqai.
Nissan arguably declare that with the first vehicle delivered in 2006, they invented the crossover/SUV sector which dominates the market.
For its birthday, boss Carlos Ghosn has promised that the autonomous proPILOT technology already in Japan will be available next year in the UK in the Qashqai.
Fans can also expect to see the funky little Juke in the glass tower as well as the amazing Nissan GT-R.
The dealership will offer a rare and official Nissan High Performance Centre which will sell, maintain and service the company’s luxury models like the GT-R supercar, which has a top speed of 196mph, does 0-62mph in under three seconds and comes with allwheel drive.
It boasts 550bhp but Nissan are currently creating a Nismo edition which will be even faster. Oh, and it has R-Start launch control, just for fun.
All this power, performance and technology from the Leaf and Micra through the Juke and Qashqai from fleet to retail, vans to cars and right up to the GT-R is now going to be on your doorstep just off the M8.
You need look only heavenwards to the Nissan Tower and the new showroom.