Gerald Jones Lincoln has a new home.
The car dealership moved to its new location at the old Fairway Ford on Washington Road from Wrightsboro Road and opened in the new location on March 1, said owner Andy Jones. He said the Ford corporation is reducing the number of Ford outlets, so the two in Augusta were combined.
“Basically it was Ford there, Jim Parley, the CEO of Ford has announced that they want 1,000 less Ford dealers because the cost to manufacture, it costs a lot of money to service a dealer and they think they can give a better product to both the customer and to us…,” Jones said.
Jones said he was going build a standalone Lincoln dealership anyway, so he decided to purchase the facility.
“It really worked out because they had a good facility,” Jones said. “The good thing is…the parts and services will remain the same, I can service Ford and Lincoln here. I can do Ford and Lincoln over there. So, it’s really sales points. Fords will be sold over there, and Lincoln is here. Everything in the back remains the same.”
Jones said his vision is that customers have options for their vehicles, meaning that if they need to make an appointment, they could do it for either location depending on which one works for them. So, if one location is busy, the customer can take their vehicle to the other location.
When purchasing the old Fairway Ford, Jones said they kept all 39 employees. As for what it was about the location that he liked, Jones said it was because the facility was in Columbia County.
“We are further out Washington Road…this gives me a really good input,” Jones said. “What they do is, they give me a market area. Every manufacture has what they call a MRA, market responsibility area, so they gave me their whole area, their allocation, everything. So, now I’m responsible for almost to Waynesboro, all the way past Beech Island, all the way to Lincolnton, all that is where I have to sell cars, where they want me to sell cars. They don’t care if I sell in California, but I’m responsible for a certain number in that area.”
At the dealership, Jones said they can only sell new Lincolns and other pre-owned cars.
“I can sell any used car, but I can’t sell a new car here because manufacturers restrict that,” Jones said.
All of the Gerald Jones dealerships work together so a salesman at one can use the others to help a customer find a vehicle.
“I try to make it as simple for customers as I can,” Jones said. “If you go on my website, all my cars are on one website, every website, not just one website.”
In February of this year, Gerald Jones celebrated 49 years in business, and Jones thanked the CSRA for all their support over the years.
“We hope to be here another 49 if the Lord lets us,” Jones said. “I just love the car business, I love the people. We believe that you’ve got to invest in the community, and we do that.”
Gerald Jones Lincoln is located at 4333 Washington Road, Evans. For more information, including phone numbers, visit https://www.geraldjoneslincolnaugusta.com.
