US-based giant Lithia, the brand new owner of Pendragon, has unveiled plans to axe tons of of jobs within the UK.
Lithia, which bought Pendragon at the top of last 12 months in a £397 million deal, has alerted staff of plans to shut CarStore, based on reports within the Financial Times.
Lithia already had just over 50 franchised outlets within the UK in its Jardine Motors business, which it acquired in 2022.
The Pendragon acquisition added 137 franchised outlets including Stratstone and Evans Halshaw plus its Carstore automobile supermarkets, based on the 2023 AM100 figures.
The move will see around 250 jobs go – or one in 20 staff, said the FT, mostly from closing nine CarStore sites and and 7 CarStore pods as Lithia looks to integrate the UK businesses and give attention to Evans Halshaw and Stratstone.
It is known that 4 CarStore sites will probably be refranchised in an expanded partnership with three existing OEMs, while its remaining 4 CarStore pods will develop into Evans Halshaw Direct sites.
Lithia became embroiled in a bidding war for Pendragon last autumn, as its initial offer attracted counter-offers from overseas rivals Hedin and Penske.
Lithia increased its acquisition offer for Pendragon by 42%, one other £117 million, taking the quantity being offered for all its Stratstone, Evans Halshaw, Carstore and PVM motor businesses as much as £397 million.
This Article First Appeared At www.am-online.com
