8:24 am, September 19, 2025
BMW dealer Cotswold Motor Group says that a high number of ‘manufacturer holds’ were to blame for its falling profits in 2024.
The retailer represents BMW and Mini across Gloucestershire and Herefordshire and recently filed its latest set of annual accounts via Companies House.
The documents, which cover the 12 months to the end of last December, show that the retailer made a pre-tax profit of £3.06m in 2024.
That figure was significantly down on the previous year’s result, when the firm pocketed £4.47m and bosses have appeared to point the finger of blame at delays caused by their manufacturer partners.
Director Andrew Hulcoop said that the ‘biggest impact on the year was the high number of manufacturer holds that we suffered through the year’.
Although the accounts do not detail which holds caused the biggest headaches, last year did see BMW Group launch a large recall and stop-sale notice in relation to an Integrated Brake (IB) module fault.
The German brand was reportedly forced to recall 1.5m vehicles built after mid-2022, with dealers made to put deliveries on hold until a solution was found.
The situation is likely to have had a major impact on the likes of Cotswold Motor Group, which counts BMW and Mini as its only manufacturer partners.
The retailer’s turnover also fell during the year, with revenue sliding from £235.86m to £223.64m, as a result of the ‘difficult trading environment’.
Sales turnover alone dipped by 6% on the previous year, with motorcycles ending the period as the only department to sell more units than in 2023, as volumes rose by almost 40%.
Reflecting on the year, Hulcoop admitted that the vehicle holds had ’caused major congestion’ for the group and ‘affected the car sales profitability’.
He said: ‘Profitability during 2024 remained positive despite the difficult trading environment.
‘Gross margins came under pressure on BEVs and this has continued in to 2025, there was a general increase in overheads but the biggest impact on the year was the high number of manufacturer holds that we suffered through the year.
‘These holds affected not only new but also used vehicles and reduced significantly the part exchange vehicles that should have formed part of our used car volume in the peak months.
‘The vehicle holds not only affected the car sales profitability but they also caused major congestion on the sites which in turn led to reduced efficiency.
Despite the difficulties, Hulcoop insists that the group continues to have a ‘very strong’ relationship with BMW and Mini and is confident that 2025 will prove to be more successful.
However, he did admit that Mini’s switch to an agency model may ‘take time to settle’ despite being ‘a benefit to the business’.
The relationship we have with our manufacturer partners continues to be very strong and the business continues to operate well within the Manufactures KPI’s,’ hd added.
‘2025 will continue to bring challenges and we also see a major change in our Mini business moving from wholesale to an agency model.
‘This will take time to settle in but overall, we see this as a benefit to the business, this won’t necessarily be the case in the first year.
‘We are confident that 2025 will be a year where the business achieves its annual budget and sees improvement in areas that have been identified as under performing in 2024.’
