Everett Auto Group building Volkswagen dealership in Rogers

Arkansas-based auto retailer Everett Auto Group said Wednesday (April 28) it is planning to build a Volkswagen dealership in Rogers.

The privately-owned company said the construction of Everett Volkswagen of Rogers will begin in May and should be finished before the end of 2021.

The 6.07-acre site is along northbound Interstate 49, situated on West Poplar Street just south of Outback Steakhouse. Everett closed a deal recently to buy the land from Spark Rose Investments LLC for $2.12 million. Searcy-based First Security Bank backed the deal with a one-year loan worth $2.12 million. Devereux Real Estate Investments of Rogers, led by Pat Morrison and Chuck Dicus, represented the seller. Dan Moudy with Baxley Penfield Moudy Realtors in Bryant was the buyer’s agent.

In February this year, Everett Auto Group filed a preliminary development plan with the city of Rogers for technical review, signaling its intention to build a car dealership on the property. The document did not disclose the vehicle brand.

According to the document, the dealership will be about 24,000 square feet. Engineering firm Hope Consulting and architectural firm Black, Corley, Owens and Hughes, both of Benton, are leading the preliminary design work.

Everett Auto Group, which is headquartered in Bryant, was established through an acquisition of an existing dealership in 2006. Dwight and Susie Everett and two of their sons-in-law, Chad Hendrix and Brandon Hudspeth own the business. The family owns four dealerships in central Arkansas — Everett Buick GMC, Everett Chevrolet, Everett Ford and Infiniti of Central Arkansas. The company said those stores represent the nation’s top GM dealer by sales volume, the top volume Chevrolet dealership in the region, the top volume Ford dealer in Arkansas and the state’s top volume luxury dealership.

“We are so glad to be back in Northwest Arkansas,” Dwight Everett said in a statement. “The Volkswagen brand is a great fit for drivers in Northwest Arkansas with the staple products like the Jetta, Atlas, Tiguan, and the new electric ID.4.”

Everett Volkswagen of Rogers will be an “open-point” dealership. A manufacturer awards an open-point to a dealership based on their knowledge of the candidate including having the resources to open the store and evidence of the candidate’s performance in the market.

“Volkswagen of America is pleased to announce the appointment of the Everett Automotive Group to bring Volkswagen products, including our all-electric vehicle, to the greater Rogers/Bentonville area. We look forward to working with the Everett Automotive Group and servicing the Northwest Arkansas communities,” Scott Bell, region vice president at Volkswagen of Americ, said in a statement.

Volkswagen Group is one of the world’s largest producers of passenger cars and Europe’s largest automaker. Volkswagen sells the Arteon, Atlas, Atlas Cross Sport, Jetta, Jetta GLI, Passat, and Tiguan vehicles through more than 600 independent U.S. dealers.

The Rogers dealership will join one other Volkswagen dealer in the market — Crain Volkswagen of Fayetteville.

It also represents Everett’s return to Northwest Arkansas. Everett previously owned three dealerships in the region — Everett Chevrolet (Springdale), Everett Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram Fiat (Springdale) and Everett Buick GMC (Bentonville). A group of investors, including Arkansas Business Hall of Famers Johnelle Hunt and Jerry Jones, bought the dealerships in February 2018.

Hendrix told the Northwest Arkansas Business Journal the reasons for selling three auto dealerships in one of the country’s fastest-growing regions are rooted simply in a desire to scale back the company’s operations.