LSH 2023 loss more than doubles to £11m
18 September 2024
LSH Auto, the world’s largest Mercedes-Benz retailer, has extended its unenviable loss-making run, by more than doubling its loss before tax in the year ended December 2023 from £4.9m to £11.0m.
Revenue also fell, from £327m to £255m, as would be expected under Mercedes’ move from franchised to agency sales.
The directors made no comment on the financial performance, but did highlight the agency move: “LSH Auto UK acts as an agent between the brand and the customer, in return for fee income.”
Many retailers Auto Retail Network has spoken to are deeply unhappy about the drop in profitability under agency.
In an interview with Auto Retail Bulletin back in May 2024, UK MD Vaughan Blackman admitted the UK retail business has never made a profit since it bought the Birmingham and Manchester market areas from Mercedes-Benz Retail in 2016. “For the midterm, we’re focused operationally on getting the auto side into the black… we’ve had a decent start for the year, but we still have more work to do.”
He said that adding the BYD franchise was about profitable diversification… “the future of automotive is EV, whether people like ot or not. But for us, it’s about expansion”.
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