By Tom SeymourArnold Clark has become the first Kia dealer in the UK to introduce its new 'red cube' show- room identity.The new global standard has been created to deliver the most complete visual representation of Kia's design-focused brand strategy.While the new showrooms will only open at major new-build sites, many of the concept's elements will soon be found at all Kia show­rooms in the UK following the national roll-out.Arnold Clark's showroom, at Northwich in Cheshire, was built on an existing Arnold Clark four-acre site in a high-traffic location and feat-ures strong red cladding, distinctive side-return architecture and a clean interior to give customers an even more professional and comfortable experience when they are either buying a new Kia or returning for aftersales service.Simon Hetherington, dealer development Newsdirector at Kia Motors (UK), said: "This is a dramatic new look for Kia across the globe and I am proud that the UK has one of the first such new showrooms to open in Europe."We do not expect all of our dealers to invest in such buildings, but many of the elements contained in red cube can already be found in about one third of our 170 UK dealerships and Family-owned Harratts Group has added the Kia franchise at a dealership on Barnsley Road in Wakefield.The franchise will move to a dedicated show­room next month and Harratts expects the addition of Kia in Wakefield will add 10 new jobs.The new Kia dealership will complement Harratts' existing Volvo dealership on Barnsley Road in the town, with Kia Motors having chosen Harratts based on "the strength of its business model and customer service".Dealer principal of the new franchise will be Gareth Bottomley (pictured right), who over-sees multiple dealerships within the Harratts Group.The motor group now represents seven manu­Ten jobs created as Harratts opens new Wakefield First new 'red cube' showroom Arnold Clark's new Northwich dealership shows off Kia' design-focused strategyKia's first red cube dealership at Northwich

New car marketNewsDealerprofileNew car newsUsed car RecruitmentanalysisNews digestShowroomWakefield dealershipshowroom unveiledby the end of this year almost all of our dealers will have adopted our new brand identity."The red cube gives us real stand-out power at new-build and landmark sites and I would expect another five or six such showrooms in the UK over the course of the next year," he added.The Arnold Clark Northwich showroom took 16 weeks to build and is the group's eighth Kia deal-ership across the country.Eddie Hawthorne, managing director of Arnold Clark Automobiles, said: "We are delighted with the new showroom and it is great to be the first in the UK to showcase Kia's new flagship red cube."We were very happy with the build process, we are very happy with its simple, practical, but stunning style and I am sure it is going to really deliver for Arnold Clark." facturers (Volvo, Honda, Renault, Mit-subishi, Honda, Nissan and Kia). The business saw growth in 2011 and has almost completed construc-tion of a new HQ.No change in MoT test frequency The Government has confirmed that the frequency of the MoT test will not change as part of its wider review of vehicle testing in the UK.The Government first announced its inten-tion to look at changing the MoT test to a 4-2-2 system 18 months ago to bring it in line with European rules.In a written ministerial statement, transport secretary Justine Greening said: "Having listened to the very many views put forward and considered the available evidence, I have decided that I am not going to carry out further work in relation to relaxing the first test date or the frequency of testing."However, the DfT will be looking at other areas of vehicle testing after Vehicle and Operator Services Agency (VOSA) data showed that more than a quarter (27.7%) of vehicles tested had one or more car defects that were either missed by MoT test centres or incorrectly assessed. VOSA also found that the roadworthiness of one-in-eight cars (12.4%) was being incorrectly assessed by MoT test centres.To view a full gallery of images showing Kia Red Box CI Click here