F&I Management & Training

The owner of the Evans Halshaw and Stratstone car dealerships has said it expects the new car sales market to be subdued and it will focus on used cars to drive its business.

Nottingham-based Pendragon posted a like-for-like increase in used car sales of 7% in the three months to September 30, compared to a 23.4% decline in new car sales in the quarter.

While new car sales were up when stripping out the impact of last year's scrappage scheme, the company said it expected used car volumes to continue to improve and new car sales to remain subdued.

Pendragon, the UK's largest independent operator of franchised car dealerships, operating more than 300 franchises, said it was "cautiously optimistic" that it will hit full-year profit expectations.

The company added: "While the wider macro-economic environment remains uncertain, we continue to concentrate on the areas of the business where we have the greatest opportunity to improve profitability and reduce debt."

Excluding scrappage figures, new car sales would have risen 27.6%, and total retail sales would have increased 30.1%.

The company's volume car retailer, Evans Halshaw - which sells brands such as Citroen, Vauxhall and Ford from 127 dealerships - saw retail sales excluding scrappage increase 43%.

Its Stratstone dealership - which focuses on luxury brands such as Ferrari, BMW and Aston Martin - saw an increase in retail sales excluding scrappage of 1.4%.