8:03 am, June 8, 2026
Car dealership group Cambria saw its profits tumble dramatically last year, with bosses pointing to ‘once-in-a-century’ changes to the automotive industry.
Accounts recently filed via Companies House show that the retailer’s ultimate holding company – Cambria Investments Holdings Ltd – made a pre-tax profit of £5.27m in the 12 months to the end of August 2025.
That figure is down a whopping 82% on the previous year’s £29.32m profit, with turnover also dropping almost 2.5% to £548.55m.
Explaining the falling profits, bosses said that 2024’s results were boosted by a substantial investment property revaluation gain.
They added that, excluding that one-off gain, the group’s underlying trading profit was actually ahead of the previous year.
Elsewhere, EBITDA – the measure by which the Car Dealer Top 100 is ranked – dropped from £51.06m to £16.6m, before exceptional items.
Reacting to the year, directors highlighted a number of external factors, including the ZEV mandate and the impact of new Chinese brands.
The firm also hit out at the government’s ‘contradictory’ wider approach to electrification, including the proposed pay-per-mile charges on EVs.
Writing in the accounts, director Paul Buddin said: ‘The directors have reported before that the industry is going through a once-in-a-century change in the way that the consumer moves around the planet.
‘The drive towards cleaner powertrains continues; UK government legislation is driving the UK consumer towards EV vehicles by mandating that 28% (rising to 33% in 2026) of new vehicle registrations must be electric in calendar year 2025 and providing consumer grants towards the purchase of new EV vehicles.
‘At the same time, the government has signalled that they will introduce a 3-pence-per-mile charge on drivers of electric vehicles in the last budget.
‘These actions seem somewhat contradictory, and it is to be seen what impact they will have on demand for electric vehicles, which manufacturers are being incentivised to supply to the UK market.
‘Further, the UK has seen the impact that new entrant brands (from China) are having. In the last twelve months, brands such as MG, Omoda, Jaecoo, Chery and BYD have taken significant market share, and the rate at which they have achieved market share is unprecedented.’
In response to the changes, the period covered by the accounts saw Cambria take on franchises with the likes of MG, Omoda and Jaecoo. Since the end of 2025, the firm has also added Chery to its portfolio.
Elsewhere, the accounts show that the firm ended the year with net cash of £10.2m, effectively offsetting the debt taken on to take the group private following a management buyout in 2021.
The group not only incorporates the firm’s retail operations but also ‘RAMP’ – which provides a range of repair and maintenance plans throughout the UK – and ‘SOGO’, which specialises in providing sustainable vehicle-based mobility solutions, chiefly through mobility leasing agreements.
Across the year, staff costs rose to £31.21m, compared to £29.11m in 2024, despite the average workforce falling from 616 employees to 570.
At the same time, directors remuneration shot up to £2.49m, having previously stood at £1.71m.
During the year, no interim dividends were paid and the directors did not recommend payment of a final dividend.
