Friday, September 05, 2008
Citroen Retail adds three sites
Citroën Retail is well on the way to its target of 15 sites by 2010 after adding dealerships in Slough, Redditch and Letchworth.
The move includes two acquisitions and takes the carmaker-owned group to 12 sites. Citroën will not disclose figures, but AM estimates the additions take Citroën Retail into the AM100’s top 25, on turnover of £350 million.
The Redditch site was bought from Brooklyn Motors. It has a second Citroën outlet in nearby Kidderminster, which is multi-franchised with Ford and Mazda. The Letchworth outlet was bought from Wayside Group, which has no other Citroën sites.
Citroën Retail managing director Thierry Calewaert said the acquisitions were by “mutual agreement” between Citroën and the existing dealers.
The opportunity to buy both only came up in the past two months.
Calewaert said: “We will be investing approximately £200,000 in the Redditch site on refurbishment, but the Letchworth site will need less money as it’s much smaller and the building is quite new.”
The Slough dealership, built at Citroën UK’s headquarters, opens this month. It will allow Citroën UK senior management to gain first-hand experience of a Citroën dealership.
All Citroën Retail’s sites fit into five regional hubs: Scotland (Glasgow, Edinburgh), Manchester (centre, south), Midlands (Birmingham, Coventry, Redditch), London (west, city) and M25 area (Letchworth, Slough, Hatfield). Calewaert is looking for sites in Liverpool, Milton Keynes and another in Edinburgh.
Citroën Retail aims to achieve 20% of all Citroën new car sales in the UK. It now accounts for 13%.
DATED: 05.09.08
FEED: AM
The move includes two acquisitions and takes the carmaker-owned group to 12 sites. Citroën will not disclose figures, but AM estimates the additions take Citroën Retail into the AM100’s top 25, on turnover of £350 million.
The Redditch site was bought from Brooklyn Motors. It has a second Citroën outlet in nearby Kidderminster, which is multi-franchised with Ford and Mazda. The Letchworth outlet was bought from Wayside Group, which has no other Citroën sites.
Citroën Retail managing director Thierry Calewaert said the acquisitions were by “mutual agreement” between Citroën and the existing dealers.
The opportunity to buy both only came up in the past two months.
Calewaert said: “We will be investing approximately £200,000 in the Redditch site on refurbishment, but the Letchworth site will need less money as it’s much smaller and the building is quite new.”
The Slough dealership, built at Citroën UK’s headquarters, opens this month. It will allow Citroën UK senior management to gain first-hand experience of a Citroën dealership.
All Citroën Retail’s sites fit into five regional hubs: Scotland (Glasgow, Edinburgh), Manchester (centre, south), Midlands (Birmingham, Coventry, Redditch), London (west, city) and M25 area (Letchworth, Slough, Hatfield). Calewaert is looking for sites in Liverpool, Milton Keynes and another in Edinburgh.
Citroën Retail aims to achieve 20% of all Citroën new car sales in the UK. It now accounts for 13%.
DATED: 05.09.08
FEED: AM
