Lithia Motors has closed its innovative L2 Motors used car dealership in Hiawatha after only six months.

The closing was part of a restructuring plan announced by the Medford, Ore.-based auto dealership chain in June in response to slowing sales of cars and trucks.

The L2 Motors dealership was new this year. WoW Gold sicher kaufen  The first Iowa location for the new used car concept, it had been touted by Lithia as a leap forward in customer service. Among the features of the dealership were advanced Internet shopping features that let consumers make fast comparisons of the price and features of all of the cars in its inventory.

The former K2 location was acquired by Scott Ryan as an expansion location for the used car operations of his Cedar Rapids Toyota business, which is immediately to the west. Scott purchased the Volkswagen franchise of the former Bob Mickey's First Avenue Chrysler Volkswagen earlier this year.

"We were planning a $5 million-plus expansion of the Toyota store, lineage 2 adena and this opportunity came up," Ryan said. He said the location will have room to inventory about 130-140 used vehicles, and shop space, including a quick lube facility, that will be useful for improving customer service.

Ryan declined to disclose the selling price, but said it was a little more than he had planned to invest in the previous expansion plan.

Sales at the Cedar Rapids Toyota dealership have held up well despite the industry's problems, Ryan said, crediting a strong local economy and the popularity of Toyota's models.

Lithia Motors moved into the Cedar Rapids market in December 2006 by buying the former Allen Motor Co. operations at 1040 N. Center Point Road. They are now Buick GMC Cadillac of Cedar Rapids, Saturn of Cedar Rapids and Kia of Cedar Rapids.

The former L2 used car operations were folded into Kia of Cedar Rapids.