11:28 am, January 10, 2024
Business boomed at Exeter-based City West Country in 2022, with sizeable increases in turnover and pre-tax profit.
Accounts filed with Companies House for the year ended December 31, 2022 – the latest available for the business – showed that like many other UK dealer groups, City West Country reaped the rewards of a post-Covid bounce.
Turnover soared from the £245m achieved in 2021 to nearly £349.2m during the 12-month period – a 42.5% uplift.
Gross profit rose from £32m to £35.6m while pre-tax profit jumped by 23.1% to £8.6m.
Return on sales and gross margin, however, fell from 2.8% to 2.5% and 13.0% to 10.2% respectively.
The business put the decrease down to the ‘changing used car market conditions post Covid 19’.
During 2022, City West Country made £323.9m on the sale of vehicles and £25.3m on aftersales.
The accounts reflect the company operating Mercedes-Benz and Smart franchises under the name of Mercedes-Benz South West, and pre-date the German carmaker’s switch to an agency model in 2023.
City West Country has Mercedes-Benz and Smart showrooms in Exeter, Plymouth, Taunton and Truro.
During 2023 (outside of the 2022 accounts), City West Country grew its footprint by adding Chinese car brands GWM Ora and BYD to its business.
The accounts said: ‘The directors consider the financial performance in 2022 to be satisfactory considering the wider economic climate and extremely competitive UK motor retailing marketplace and the general cautions outlook adopted by consumers.’
