Volkswagen dealership opens new showroom in Sioux City

The dealership recently opened its new state-of-the-art showroom and service facility, following completion of a building project that began last spring.

Since Bob Jensen brought the dealership to Sioux City in 2013, it had operated in temporary quarters in the adjacent Jensen Imports store at 3909 Stadium Drive.

The new 13,500-square-foot standalone facility showcases Volkswagen's "white frame" design concept, which, with its clear, simple shape, VW says is  key to its visual identity

The simple white color accentuates the facade, ensuring clear differentiation from other structures. Inside, the white frame is used for the presentation of vehicles and products and is even reflected in the comfy furniture in the customer lounge.

The design features vaulted ceilings and wall-to-ceiling windows that allow natural light to flow freely, adding to a warm, comfortable and inviting atmosphere.

"The store turned out absolutely gorgeous," Jensen said.

The large service department offers eight service bays where technicians can work not only on VWs but also other makes and models.

Typically, auto service departments are "tucked to the side or in the back of a dealership," Jensen noted. But the VW design place an enclosed service entrance, with an overhead door, next to the showroom's front door.

Customers can pull their vehicles into the climate-controlled entrance, which doubles as a reception area for the service department.

"It makes it very nice for the customers," he said. "They can come out of the weather."

The new showroom and service facility sits on a 1 1/2-acre site, where more than 60 new and pre-owned vehicles are displayed outdoors.

The dealership has 14 employees, and Jensen said he anticipates adding more staff as business grows.

That's in addition to a staff of 40 at Jensen Imports, which sports separate, distinctive storefronts and showrooms for his Subaru and Mazda lines. There also are about 30 employees at his Ford and Chrysler dealerships in Le Mars, Iowa. Counting all three locations, his total workforce has grown to about 100.

Jensen worked for more than a decade to land a Volkswagen franchise. Sioux City has been without a VW dealer for decades. Jensen noted it was the only non-luxury new car franchise not represented in Iowa's fourth largest city.

Volkswagen is the original and top-selling marque of the German-based Volkswagen Group, the world's second largest automaker, behind only Toyota Motors Corp. VW also is the largest auto maker in Europe.

Jensen said he's impressed with VW's clean diesel technology. The automaker claims its Turbocharged Direction Injection, or TDI engines increase fuel economy by as much as 30 percent and reduces carbon emissions 12 to 30 percent, compared to a traditional gasoline engine.

"It's a clean diesel. You could literally pull (a VW vehicle) onto the showroom floor and let it idle and you wouldn't smell it," Jensen said.

Upgrading the standard gas engines to the clean diesel technology costs about $1,800, he said.

"It's a very attractive price point," he said.

VW models include the Beetle, Beetle Convertible, Golf, Jetta, Jetta SportWagen, Passat, Tiguau and Touareg.

The automaker pledged last month to bring two new VW crossovers to North American dealerships in 2017 and is considering adding at least a third crossover afterward.