Sytner will rebrand its CarShop businesses, close one location and is in discussions to sell some other sites as part of a major strategic review.
Staff were informed of the news yesterday and confirmed to AM that the CarShop name will be rebranded as Sytner Select Approved Used Cars superstores.
The dealer group bought the CarShop business back in 2017 and had expanded with new locations in Bristol in 2019 and then Nottingham in 2020.
There are currently 11 CarShop locations across the UK, including the Bristol and Nottingham sites, as well as Cardiff, Doncaster, Manchester, Northampton, Norwich, Sheffield, Swindon, Warrington and Wolverhampton.
It’s unclear at this stage which location has been identified for closure and which locations may be sold.
Sytner is already in “advanced negotiations” with an interested party to sell a minority of CarShop locations as a going concern.
The used car industry has been through some turbulent times recently, with price fluctuations and a difficult period of trading more broadly in the second half of 2023.
High profile struggles include Cazoo filing to put its remaining marketplace business into administration earlier this month, as well as Pendragon’s new owners Lithia closing down nine CarStore operations and seven CarStore pods.
In this spotlight issue:
Will flexible working ever suit today’s dealerships?
Some cite motor retail’s lack of flexibility as a barrier to recruitment. Can it do more?
Buyers still want help with their car purchase
Consumers continue to value point-of-sale finance and insurance
Is part exchange losing power?
Ways dealers can still compete effectively against car-buying platforms
Overcoming complexity in aftersales
How to optimise the efficiency of a franchised workshop
Papering over the omnichannel cracks
Progress has been made, but the end goal continues to remain out of reach
Read now