Editor’s Choice

Pendragon has completed the planned closure of 22 Car Store sites with the last two shutting up shop last Friday. As it continues to restructure the business after a tough first half it delivered higher Q3 underlying pre-tax profits of £3m compared to £1.1m last time with like-for-like revenues down -3.6% (-8% total) “Whilst the improved performance during the period ...

SsangYong Motors UK has launched SsangYong Metro, a ‘hybrid’ dealer model that amalgamates a traditional car dealership with a virtual concierge service. SsangYong Metro, will service the London boroughs within the M25. The concept, SsangYong says, will help the emerging Korean brand to build more presence across the capital, where the traditional car dealership model has seen a decline over ...

Keith Brock is stepping down as managing director of Wessex Garages. Brock headed up the company for many years and was instrumental to the growth and brand representation. Brock said: “Wessex Garages has been a major part of my life and in 24 years I have worked with some talented individuals and teams developing friendships along the way with employees, ...

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has announced that it will ban car retailers’ discretionary finance commission model. The current system allows the broker to set the rate, and the FCA found that the widespread use of this type of commission creates an incentive for brokers to act against customers’ interests. It estimates the changes would save customers £165m a year. ...

Mercedes-Benz Retail Group turned in pre-tax losses of -£29m in 2018 compared to losses of -£567,000 the year before. Turnover for the year was £1.07bn compared to £1.1bn in 2017. During the year the company paid £25m of dividend compared to £50m in 2017 The group’s new car volumes fell -6% with the retail side coping well but corporate sales ...

Saxon Bridge Car Superstore, part of Saxon Bridge Automotive Ltd, has gone into voluntary liquidation. MKFM has reported that it received a statement from the company, which said that it has been “struggling for the last couple of months and trying to restructure the company’s finances, partly due to the current economic climate, Brexit and a slow period of trading, ...

Vertu Motors is building a new Land Rover dealership in nelson Lancashire The business is temporarily relocating to a nearby site to facilitate a multi-million-pound investment at its existing location. The retailer will undergo a complete rebuild to feature a six-car showroom, designed in line with the  Jaguar Land Rover Arch concept. Jaguar Land Rover has been restructuring its UK ...

Peter Vardy saw pre-tax-profits fall 24.9% to £5.5m on turnover up 4.2% to £468.9m in 2018. Peter Vardy (pictured), CEO of the eponymous group said the company’s franchises had a challenging 2018 because of WLTP and the restructuring of the Vauxhall product line-up and network. But it said its BMW and Mini businesses performed strongly within the BMW network. Peter ...

A strong performance from its used car business helped Arnold Clark deliver pre-tax profits up 6.5% to £113.5m on turnover up 7.8% to £4.3bn in 2018. The group saw used car sales volumes rise 9.5% to 238,977 units while new car sales – hit by WLTP – fell -2.6% to 68,344 units. “Overall growth in revenue of 7.8% was primarily ...

Significant investment in overseas expansion saw Carwow deliver pre-tax losses of -£15.9m in the year to December 2018 on turnover of £19.6m. This compares with losses of -£7.9m on £15.3m turnover the previous year, according to accounts filed at Companies House. The company headcount has grown to over 200 in the period from 127 a year earlier.. In 2018 the ...