Monday, January 12, 2009
Honda dealer group collapses
Administrators have been appointed at De Vries Group, a retailer with five Honda dealerships in Yorkshire and Teeside. Its five outlets - Northallerton, Scarborough, York, Hull and Stockton-On-Tees - will continue trading under administrators from Grant Thornton to reduce stock levels and fulfill outstanding aftersales bookings.
Honda UK said it has been in talks with existing and prospective dealer partners and it hopes to announce new representation by the end of March. It expects one site to close.
Bernard Bradley, its general manager, cars, told AM that Honda had been working with De Vries for several months, providing "management support and significant financial support as well".
It is the second failure of a major Honda partner since the downturn in the new car market began last summer. Amethyst Group, which represented Honda in Cheltenham, Gloucester and Chippenham, went bust in similar circumstances at the end of October. All sites ceased trading.
Bradley said both De Vries and Amethyst had "issues existing in both businesses that were exacerbated by the current economic conditions."
Keith Hinds of Grant Thornton said redundancies among De Vries 130-strong workforce could not be ruled out. He added: "We are currently looking at maintaining as many trading operations as possible but we cannot discount the need to close some or all of the sites if buyers could not be found in the near future."
DATED: 12.01.09
FEED: AM
Honda UK said it has been in talks with existing and prospective dealer partners and it hopes to announce new representation by the end of March. It expects one site to close.
Bernard Bradley, its general manager, cars, told AM that Honda had been working with De Vries for several months, providing "management support and significant financial support as well".
It is the second failure of a major Honda partner since the downturn in the new car market began last summer. Amethyst Group, which represented Honda in Cheltenham, Gloucester and Chippenham, went bust in similar circumstances at the end of October. All sites ceased trading.
Bradley said both De Vries and Amethyst had "issues existing in both businesses that were exacerbated by the current economic conditions."
Keith Hinds of Grant Thornton said redundancies among De Vries 130-strong workforce could not be ruled out. He added: "We are currently looking at maintaining as many trading operations as possible but we cannot discount the need to close some or all of the sites if buyers could not be found in the near future."
DATED: 12.01.09
FEED: AM
