27 November 2016

CCR Motor Co, owned by Japanese firm VT Holdings, is relinquishing five of its eight Mitsubishi franchises just four years after the manufacturer sold Colt Car Retail Group to VT.

The losses include the dealership nearest to the brand’s UK HQ in Cirencester which will go by the end of the year.

The other franchise losses are: Reading and Chertsey, which will terminate at the end of November, and Weston-super-mare and Melksham which will close at the end of December.

The Weston-super-mare site will be redeveloped as a solus Renault Dacia operation.

Until now CCR has marketed itself as ‘The UK’s largest Mitsubishi Dealer Group’, however, this title will now rest with Border Cars which has four Mitsubishi franchises.

CCR Motor Co said it had decided to consolidate its Mitsubishi operations by concentrating sales through three main sites at Bristol, Cheltenham and Swindon.

Tim Bagnall, managing director of VT Holdings’ UK business, said: “CCR has a long history with Mitsubishi and these commercial decisions have been made with their support. We had a couple of sites approaching the end of their property leases and this was an appropriate time to evaluate our position. By concentrating sales through three specific points in populous areas, we will be able to better align the cost base with volume.”

A spokesman for Mitsubishi said the importer was not planning to replace the franchise locations with a different retail group, including the Cirencester dealership.

The spokesman added: “We sat down with CCR and worked out what they have to do to maintain viability.

“CCR is adapting its business to the changing automotive retail landscape and we are working with them to secure its long-term success. CCR has a long history with Mitsubishi Motors and we want to maintain that relationship well into the future.”

VT Holdings also owns Griffin Mill Garages, which it bought in 2014, and Wessex Garages which it bought earlier this year. These purchases added a mix of franchises including Fiat, Kia, Hyundai, Nissan, Peugeot and Renault to CCR’s original all-Mitsubishi line-up.

However, after several years of strong growth, Mitsubishi is running down more than 19% on new car registrations in the first 10 months of 2016.

Tags: Border Cars, CCR, Colt Car Retail Group, Griffin Mill Garages, Mitsubishi, VT Holdings