2:54 pm, July 13, 2022
Nissan has announced it’s selling its West Way dealership group.
The Japanese carmaker says it plans to dispose of its 13-site group by the end of August.
Around 450 employees will be transferred to ‘the new investors’, a release published this afternoon (July 13) says.
Of the 13 sites, Yeomans will pick up Aldershot and Basingstoke, while Glyn Hopkin will take on Mill Hill and Hendy will acquire the Southampton showroom.
The showrooms in Birmingham, Wolverhampton, Rochdale, Stockport, Altringham, Coventry, Stourbridge, Oldham and Manchester, including West Way’s head office, will be bought as a group.
Nissan GB said more details of the group buy-out of the nine sites including the head office will be announced at a later date.
Andrew Humberstone, Nissan Motor GB managing director, said: ‘We have conducted a strategic review of our business operations to focus on sustainable profitability for the future, aligned to our global Nissan NEXT transformation strategy.
‘West Way is a high-performing business that delivered record results in 2021 and provides excellent levels of customer service.
‘This, combined with the launch of Nissan’s exciting and electrified new products, ensures it is a very attractive proposition for these investors.
‘They are able to leverage the synergies of their existing business units and ensure these dealer sites can continue to grow and maintain the great experience our customers are accustomed to receiving.’
Jon Roberts, current managing director of West Way, added: ‘I would like to personally thank our colleagues that are integrating into new businesses in the south for their dedication and contribution to the group over many years.
‘This is a really exciting time for the remaining sites at West Way that are being acquired as a group, which will allow them to build further on the tremendous success in more recent years, with 2021 being a record result.
‘As part of this, West Way will also see the required investment in the businesses to elevate them to the next level.’
The news comes less than a week after Nissan published details of its new ‘Ideal Network Plan’.
The carmaker is looking to reduce its UK dealer network by around 25 sites to the 140 mark.
In the announcement last week, Nissan hinted that its future network will have ‘bigger sites and better facilities’.
The cut of around 25 showrooms, or just over 15 per cent of the network, will only add ‘one minute’ to a new car customer’s journey time to a Nissan dealership, the company said.
Hendy Group subsequently said its acquisition of the West Way Nissan site in Southampton would complete in the next few weeks and would see all West Way Nissan employees transfer to Hendy Group.
Chief executive Paul Hendy said: ‘This is another important milestone in the continued growth of Hendy Group and another positive step for us and our representation of the Nissan brand.
‘Initially, we will continue operating from its current site before transferring to brand-new state-of-the-art facilities in St George’s Way, adjacent to our current Honda, Mazda and Kia dealerships and close to our successful FordStore.’
