Transwest Ford moving to Scottsbluff

Meloni promises same dedication to the area, just 30-minutes away

Logan Dailey
Posted 12/6/22

TORRINGTON – Transwest Ford began the process of relocating to Scottsbluff, Nebraska on Dec. 1 after purchasing Fremont Motors, located at 1515 East 20th Street in Scottsbluff.

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Transwest Ford moving to Scottsbluff

Meloni promises same dedication to the area, just 30-minutes away

Posted

TORRINGTON – Transwest Ford began the process of relocating to Scottsbluff, Nebraska on Dec. 1 after purchasing Fremont Motors, located at 1515 East 20th Street in Scottsbluff.

“We purchased Fremont Motors in Scottsbluff,” General Manager Alessandro Meloni said. “We will be moving our operations from Torrington to Scottsbluff.”

Meloni said the business will be retaining their team from the Torrington business and will also be acquiring staff from Fremont Motors. The move comes after business negotiations prompted by Ford Motor Company.

“The industry has been working towards consolidation, so we saw the opportunity to help find a better way to serve our people with expanded capacity and offerings. It’s going to be a new location, but it’ll still be our great team helping everybody.”

Ford Motor Company proposed the plan, and the rest was sorted out between the two owners, according to Meloni.

“COVID accelerated a lot of industry consolidation across the country,” Meloni explained. “Lack of availability with inventory and whatnot has put a lot of pressure on smaller businesses, smaller dealerships.”

Despite COVID’s impact on the automotive industry locally and abroad, Meloni sees the move as an opportunity to better serve the valley, though he said it was not an easy decision to make.

“The existing dealer was having their fair bit of struggles and with our solid reputation in the valley and the success we’ve had, putting in our hard work for close to six years, allowed us the opportunity to purchase them, a large competitor in our area of responsibility that’s four times larger than ours. Not only do we absorb that, but we also maintain our presence here, just a little drive further.” 

Meloni said they have already begun moving their operations to Scottsbluff but will continue to have existing parts and services operations in Torrington for the next two weeks. Following the next two weeks, Transwest will be operated solely out of their new location.

“We are in the midst of a remodel and investment in Scottsbluff, so we had to split the capacity and the team so we can still accommodate normal business operations; so, they will be as normal as they can be,” he explained. “We have some of our staff there in Torrington, they can still get ahold of us; it’s the same website, the phone number for Torrington redirects to Scottsbluff and it will for a long time. Our premise and our purpose were to make it as seamless as possible for our existing clientele who have supported us since we have been here.”

There will be a lot of familiar faces from Transwest location in Torrington, they will just now be in Scottsbluff, Meloni reassured. Though the landscape will be slightly different, the move will allow Transwest to increase their service capacity, increase their vehicle allotment and expand their service area.

“We will be able to, at normal times, leverage more vehicle sales and have a better supply than we ever had, even pre-COVID,” Meloni explained. “We will have a service capacity close to triple what we had and will be able to attract more talent, especially in the service department, to better serve the community. That’s an issue across the entire country, trying to attract and maintain top employ; we pay the best in the valley by far, wages are comparable to a metropolitan area like Denver or Los Angeles. Just because we are in a small market doesn’t mean people should be handicapped by that.”

Meloni and his team wish to express their thanks to their customers for the past nearly six years since he arrived. He said he still plans to be around Torrington, live in Torrington and serve on local organizations and boards.

“The whole team wants to thank everybody, Torrington and the surrounding area, for the opportunity to serve them,” Meloni explained. “We will continue to serve them. It’s been a fun ride that will be able to continue down the road and we will be able to really do it that much better, too. It’s definitely not goodbye.”

Meloni added the move will secure a greater future for his existing team and the company.