ONE of Scotland's longest established Rover dealers, Queensborough

Motors, is abandoning the British marque after 30 years in favour of a

Daihatsu franchise.

The dealership switch, coupled to Taggarts taking on Nissan in

Glasgow's Maryhill area, reflects growing influence of Japanese products

in the Scottish market.

Explaining the decision to leave the Rover fold, Mr George Henry,

managing director of Queensborough Motors, said: ''It involved a lot of

soul-searching, particularly as we were loyal to Austin, BMC, BLMC, and

Austin Rover through the dark days.''

Queensborough has maintained a large service and repair operation for

Rover, employing 32 mechanics. It sold only around 200 new cars a year.

The firm plans to spend about #50,000 on establishing a sales,

service, and parts unit for Daihatsu close to the existing outlet

adjoining Hyndland Mazda, which is being expanded and upgraded at a cost

of #300,000.

The decision to break away from Rover was confirmed after the

Midlands-based manufacturer requested that Queensborough invest heavily

in a new facility in Glasgow city centre.

The Henry family, through the brothers George, John, Norman, and Alex,

already represent BMW, Honda, and Mazda in Glasgow. The Daihatsu unit

will be operational from February 1.

Taggarts has added the increasingly competitive Nissan franchise to

its portfolio putting the cars, built in Japan, Britain, and Spain,

alongside the existing Jaguar outlet in Maryhill, Glasgow.

Mr Joe Nimmo said yesterday that total investment in the Nissan

project, including a showroom and equipment, would be #500,000. There

will be a small increase in the group's current workforce of 218.

The recent spate of motor trade investment in Scotland coincides with

signs of recovery in the new car market. Today's official figures for

December sales are likely to show a rise of nearly 30% in volume over

the same month last year.

Motor industry pundits are cautious about forecasting a sustained

recovery, but cuts in interest rates and removal of car purchase tax,

combined with almost institutionalised special offers, have helped

generate showroom traffic and business.

City comment14