Honda dealership opens first Generation Three design in state

Published 9:16 pm Saturday, July 25, 2015

Julia V. Pendley / Employees, family, friends and Chamber members celebrate the opening of the renovated Mike Whatley Honda dealership.

Julia V. Pendley / Employees, family, friends and Chamber members celebrate the opening of the renovated Mike Whatley Honda dealership.

Six months of construction at Mike Whatley Honda are completed and the Brookhaven dealership is ready to show off their new facilities.

The dealership received an upgrade that brought with it architectural and technological changes. According to Owner Mike Whatley, the dealership is being restructured in accordance with the Generation Three design for Honda dealerships. Whatley said that his Honda dealership is the first Honda dealership in the state with the upgraded design.

“It brings us a state-of-the-art facilities in southwest Mississippi,” Whatley said about the upgrade. “It brings a different way of buying a car.”

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Whatley said that the construction took about six months, but to plan for the change and put that plan into action took nine months.

“It was extremely challenging,” he said. “I’ve got to give all the credit to my employees. They are well-equipped and well-prepared to what we had at hand.”

Whatley said the employees have also taken very well to the changes since construction has ended. He said they’ve been ecstatic.

“It’s so nice to have a nice, clean place to come to work,” Whatley said. “It energizes you.”

He said the upgrade also brought a newly designed waiting area for customers, including a 60-inch high-definition flat screen television and a state-of-the-art music center.

Whatley said all the changes help create a more casual environment for buying a car. And he said customers are responding well to the changes.

“A big thank you to all of our customers in southwest Mississippi for bearing with us through it all,” Whatley said. “We now have the nicest dealership and first newest Honda dealership in Mississippi, and we’re very proud to be right here in Brookhaven.”