Tony Volkswagen in Waipio will become the state's only Volkswagen dealer Thursday, when Volkswagen North America and Cutter Family Auto Centers in Hawaii will part company.

Both Nick Cutter, president of Cutter Management Co., and Skip Redman, Volkswagen Western Region operations manager, described the decision as mutual.

“;They had expectations and needs or requests that we didn't feel were economic,”; Cutter said yesterday.

Starting April 1, the Cutter Ala Moana Volkswagen Mazda dealership at 800 Ala Moana Blvd. will become Cutter Mazda of Honolulu. It will retain all its employees, he said.

Tony Volkswagen, meanwhile, has “;extended its service hours, added technicians, increased parts inventory, they've added telephone reception and a service adviser ... in anticipation of Cutter closing its store, to accommodate customers,”; Redman said.

The new extended service hours are 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Saturday. Appointments may be scheduled at 860-7170 or online at http://www.tonyvolkswagen.com.

Stan Masamitsu, Tony Group president, knows Tony's exclusivity as Hawaii's only Volkswagen sales and service location is a temporary arrangement, as VW North America will name, perhaps in a month, another dealer to succeed Cutter.

Volkswagen is “;looking for ways to have better representation in the market, as far as market share,”; he said.

The manufacturer has interviewed several Hawaii dealers, but even after the new entity is named, a new dealership could take six to eight months to build and open, Redman said.

“;Naturally, some people aren't going to like the drive”; to Waipio, Redman said, so VW is considering a satellite facility for service and parts “;somewhere in the downtown area that Tony would run, up until we get our new dealership approved, the dealership built and people hired.”;

The changes will have no impact on Cutter Chrysler Jeep Dodge of Honolulu next door at 900 Ala Moana Blvd. The company has recently signed new leases for the properties and also sells and services Buick, Chevrolet, GMC, Ford and Mitsubishi vehicles at other locations. While Pontiacs are no longer made and Isuzu no longer has a U.S. manufacturing and sales presence, “;we still service them,”; Cutter said.

“;We've appreciated 20 years of serving Volkswagen customers as the Cutter Family Auto Centers, and we'd like to continue to sell them cars, even if they're not VWs,”; Cutter said.