AN award-winning Southampton car dealership is moving in a new direction by opening a new showroom.

Picador Group PLC is on the brink of launching a new purpose built site next to its main dealership in the city’s Sholing area.

The family owned business in Portsmouth Road initially opened in 1963 and its name is synonymous with the Vauxhall brand.

But now it will open a new site dealing in Renault and Dacia cars in what is its first venture outside the General Motors banner.

The new showroom, scheduled to open on Saturday, October 31, sits on land which was used for selling used cars.

It will provide room to display up to eight cars with the latest Renault and Dacia models.

Picador has a a long established record for high levels of customer service, having won the top honours with Vauxhall for four years in a row.

Group CEO Graham Jacobs said: “We have been running a very successful used car operation from the land next door to our main site, so we felt the time was right to take the next step and expand our new car portfolio.

“We are delighted to be representing such exciting brands with a clear vision of the future.

“Of course our core business is still with Vauxhall, but I feel the addition of Renault and Dacia will be adding another important string to our bow.”

The new dealership’s general manager Simon Hawker said: “We have already recruited many of the staff from within the group, so the Picador ethos has already started.

“We still have one or two key positions to fill, but are well on schedule for our official launch date.”

Picador was formed in 1962 in Portsmouth Road by Lionel Jacobs in a small workshop with a flat above.

Two years later it took over the Vauxhall franchise and in the seventies a new workshop and bodyshop opened at the back of the premises.

By 1989 the firm was selling almost 1,500 fleet vehicles a year and four years later a new showroom was opened on the site.

Next month sees the opening of the latest new showroom in Sholing.

In the first year of trading, the company’s turnover was £36,000.

This year its turnover will be in excess of £40 million, selling 3300 vehicles and employing 140 staff.

The business has continued to be run as a family concern. In the early 1990’s Lionel’s son Graham Jacobs took over as chief executive, looking after the day to day running of the total operation.

This has allowed Lionel to semi-retire, become chairman of the company and continue his charity fund-raising work with the Rotary Club and Masonic movement.