The president and chief executive of Hyundai Motor UK officially opened a new car dealership in Newport .

Tony Whitehorn attended the grand opening of the purpose-built Hyundai showroom at Newport Retail Park on November 7.

Paul Edwards, general manager at Wessex Garages, said: “We were delighted that Tony could attend and officially open the dealership. It was a fantastic evening, a real celebration. Visitors got the chance to see a fire juggler and were also treated to a fireworks display.

“Tony and Keith Brock, managing director of Wessex Garages, both spoke during the evening and a plaque was presented to Keith to be displayed at the new dealership.

“We also held a charity raffle in aid of our charity of the year, St David’s Hospice Care. Andries Pretorius, a Cardiff Blues player compèred the raffle. The items raffled off included Gwent Dragon tickets, two tickets to a Six Nations Rugby Union game, a signed Newport AFC shirt and two tickets to a match and two tickets to Chepstow Racecourse.

“We raised £225 for the charity."

Paul said: “The Hyundai dealership is a large investment for us. We want to offer our customers great value on new and used cars and also variety.

Wessex Garages is a privately owned company that has outlets in Bristol, Cardiff, Gloucester and Newport. It specialises in new and used car sales across South Wales and the South West.

Paul said: “We are pleased to be able to invest in Newport and develop our business further here. Newport Retail Park has expanded in the past 18 months with Marks and Spencer and Tesco now on-site. We are delighted we can add to this and offer local people more choice when looking for a new or a used car."