Vehicles Direct opening in automotive dealership

A pre-owned auto dealership with a one-price, no-haggle business model is prepping to open in Cleveland, Tenn., at the start of 2018.

Vehicles Direct is aiming for a Tuesday opening at 2490 S. Lee Highway in what formerly held Larry Hill Imports, said Lloid Lee, general manager of the new auto store.

“We’re not your average dealership,” said Lee. “We don’t have sales people. You don’t get pounded by car salesmen. We have buyers assistants.”

The dealership’s business model is similar to CarMax, though Vehicles Direct prices likely will be No. 1 or No. 2 best in the market, he said. Lee said the store charges no dealer fees that bump up the sales price.

“When you come here you get a car that’s reconditioned, ready, safe,” he said. But, Lee added, the dealership doesn’t spend thousands of dollars reconditioning the vehicles to top standards.

“We don’t pack a lot of profit into the cars. We sell at a fair price,” the store’s general manager said.

Vehicles Direct is headquartered in Charleston, S.C., where it has a similar dealership.

Hudson Auto Group, the dealership’s owner, also bought the Cleveland Ford new-car store, said Lee. He said that’s a separate business from Vehicles Direct.

Lee said Vehicles Direct in Cleveland is currently stocking its pre-owned fleet and he’s hopeful it soon will have between 70 and 90 autos. Eventually, the dealership will hold about 125 to 150, he said.

Plans are to sell about 150 vehicles a month, Lee said, which is what the Charleston store sells.

“Cleveland is a growing area,” he said. “The used car market is good. It’s up right now.”

Hudson Auto Group also owns about a dozen new and pre-owned dealerships in Tennessee, Georgia, North Carolina and South Carolina, according to its website.

In Cleveland, Hudson Auto joins Bowers Automotive Group, which has three dealerships in that city, said Brad Cobb, that group’s president.

Cobb said Bowers Automotive has the Honda, Kia and Toyota dealerships in Cleveland as well as the Kia and VW/Audi stores in Chattanooga.

Late last year, Sonic Automotive opened Nissan of Cleveland, a $9.8 million dealership in Cleveland at Interstate 75 and U.S. Highway 74.

Lee said the purchase of the Vehicles Direct site and readying it to open is “a multimillion-dollar investment.”

Vehicles Direct won’t offer auto service to customers, said Lee, who has been in the business in the Cleveland-Chattanooga area for the past six years.

For more info go to www. vehiclesdirect.com.

Contact Mike Pare at mpare@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6318.