LOCAL CAR DEALERSHIP GETTING $14M FACELIFT

DeLuca Toyota in Ocala began breaking ground last week on its new $14 million showroom and service center on State Road 200.

Owner Frank DeLuca said when he started the dealership 33 years ago on a 3½-acre lot, selling a relatively unknown brand of car made in Japan, he never suspected the dealership would do so well.

Construction of the new 65,000-square-foot facility will begin in four months and take a year to complete. It will replace the dealership’s current 22,000-square-foot showroom and service area. It will be built on the 6-acre site that once made up the Ocala Rallye Motors dealership, which DeLuca bought for $3.75 million 2½ years ago.

DeLuca said much of the success of his dealership is due to loyal customers who return to buy new cars.Seventy-eight percent of our customers are repeat customers,” DeLuca said, adding later, “We treat every customer like an honored guest in our home.”

“This is my baby,” he said of the business. “This is my No. 1 business that I have here. I really care about our customers.”

The latest Ocala Rallye Motors land purchase puts the Toyota dealership at nearly 25 acres. The business employs 131 people.

The new facility will not only expand the showroom and office space, but also increase the number of service bays from the current 19 to 42.

The expansion also will create jobs, DeLuca said. All told, the expansion will involve hiring as many as 40 more employees, about half of whom will be mechanics.

Construction of the facility will put between 150 to 200 people to work, DeLuca estimated.