Cutters to open Volvo dealership in Waipahu

Brothers Marc and Jarrett Cutter, who are among the largest auto dealers in the state, plan to open a new Volvo dealership today after Hawaii’s lone franchise of the Swedish automaker abruptly shut down last month.

The new Volvo facility will be at an existing Cutter dealership located at 94-1777 Farrington Highway in Waipahu.

The Cutters employ between 400 and 500 people at six different Oahu locations. They also sell Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, Ram, Fiat, Mazda and Buick GMC vehicles.

Cutter Volvo Cars Waipahu will be immediately available for authorized Volvo maintenance and repair services. There currently are no Volvos on the lot, but a full complement of 2018 models is expected to be on the lot “probably within the next 30 days,” said Mike Cottone, Western Region vice president of distributor Volvo Car USA.

“The Cutter family has been established in Hawaii for a number of years and has a very strong reputation in the community,” Cottone said in a conference call Tuesday. “We felt that this was the right partner for us.”

Envy Hawaii LLC, which did business as Volvo Cars of Honolulu, shut down its Ala Moana Boulevard location Dec. 13 a few days after receiving a franchise termination letter from Volvo Car USA for breach of contract involving customer vehicle trade payoffs.

Volvo spokesman Russell Datz said on the call that none of the new or used inventory from the former franchisee will be transferred to Cutter, which will receive only 2018 models. Datz said issues regarding the payoff of loans on vehicle trade-ins are the responsibility of the former franchisee and not Volvo Car USA, but said Volvo Car is working with all relevant parties to resolve service and finance issues for Volvo customers on the island as quickly as possible. He declined to comment on pending lawsuits that the former franchisee and Volvo Car USA have against each other.

The former franchisee, which had been trying to sell its dealership since June, lost more than $2 million last year and had lost its rental lease with Kamehameha Schools.

Marc Cutter said he had been eyeing the Volvo brand for a long time.

“I’ve been looking at Volvo for well over 18 months and we’ve been trying to add it before any of the previous stuff happened (between the former franchisee and Volvo Car USA),” he said. “They have great products and I like where they’re going with their EV (electric vehicle) products.”

Volvo has been a small player statewide in a market dominated by Toyota (26.4 percent market share through September) and Honda (15.6 percent).

Volvo’s market share through the first three quarters of 2017 was just 0.2 percent. There were 79 new car and light truck registrations by Volvo owners through September, down 28.8 percent from 111 during the same time period in 2016. The full-year statewide Volvo registrations for 2016 were 151, down 5 percent from 159 in 2015.

Hours of the new Volvo location will be 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. for parts and service and 8:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. for sales. The phone number is 564-9900.

“Our current priority is to take care of current Volvo owners who are in need of urgent service on their vehicles,” Datz said. “Our second priority is people who need scheduled maintenance, minor service, things that can wait.”

Cottone said among the new Volvo cars that will be coming soon to Hawaii will be the XC60, a midsize SUV that is a finalist for North American Utility Vehicle of the Year.