Harte Auto Group in Hartford, Conn., is investing $3 million to convert its 25,000-square-foot Suzuki dealership into an auto body repair shop that will replace its existing 1,800-square-foot shop at Harte's Infiniti dealership.

The dealer hopes the investment will help Harte carve out a larger share of the auto body business in the area as a hedge against slower sales, according to an article on courant.com, a Web site for the Hartford Courant. Greg Harte, the dealership's vice president, said the repair business doesn't ebb and flow with the economy and consumer confidence as car sales do.

Harte sees market potential for the new body shop, according to the article on the Web site. Annual revenue for the dealership's auto body repair business is now about $700,000 a year. With the larger body shop, that revenue could increase to $3 million annually in two years, Harte said.

Harte’s shop can only service three cars at a time and has just one booth for spraying paint. In the new shop, expected to open in December, 24 cars can be handled at one time with two booths for paint spraying, the Web site article said. The new body shop will include state-of-art air filtration systems and waterborne paints.

The new shop also will promote one-stop shopping and include a Hertz rental car desk and insurance adjusters on site, according to the Web site. Harte said it also is designed with plenty of glass so customers can watch their car being worked on, an attempt to ease some of the uncertainty that can accompany car repair. Harte also hopes to tap into commercial vehicle repair.

Harte said he hopes the repair business will boost car sales.

"If we take good care of you, you might buy your next car from us," he said to the Web site.