Mercedes to sell London retail sites to Sytner
23 May 2022
Mercedes-Benz is nearing its aim of exiting retail in the UK with the sale of most of its London franchises to Sytner Group.
US giant Penske Automotive Group, which owns Sytner, is understood to have signed an agreement to buy the north London dealerships of Mercedes-Benz Retail Group, with completion of the deal expected in the third quarter of 2022. The sale is also thought to include the aftersales operations in Chelsea, Heathrow and Stratford.
Mercedes first stared the sell-off of its owned dealerships in 2016 when it sold the Manchester and Birmingham market areas to Chinese-owned LSH 14 years after it was formed. Rumours of the sale of the London dealerships had been circulating ever since. The manufacturer had stated early in 2021 that it was examining the potential sale of the Mercedes-Benz Retail Group.
Mercedes operated nine showrooms in London until the end of last year when it sold its Epsom business to Sandown Motors.
Mercedes-Benz World in Weybridge, which is part of the manufacturer’s retail group, and the south London sites in Croydon, West Bromley and Dartford, are not included in the sale to Sytner.
Sytner is currently Mercedes biggest partner in the UK with 14 franchises.
While Penske has not been a proponent of the switch from franchised to agency agreements, Auto Retail Network’s sources have suggested Mercedes planned move to agency agreements could have helped the sale. This is because under the new sales model, not only is a fixed fee paid by the manufacturer to the retailer for each new car sold, but there should also be a fee paid for the costs of the sale.
In reality, this means not only will stock be financed by the manufacturer, but also the locations at which the stock is held – something that is particularly high in urban areas.
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