Eddie Hawthorne is the car dealer that most car dealers want to be.

And after clocking up another year of record profits, the list of contemporaries that look on in wonderment at the Arnold Clark CEO grows ever longer.

‘He’s simply the best car dealer in Europe,’ said one gushing car dealer group boss when we asked him what he thought of Hawthorne.

‘The man is a magician. He’s been leading that business for years and every year still pulls it out of the hat.’

The admiration for Hawthorne runs deep in the motor trade. Mention his name to anyone running a car dealership and there’ll be a sharp intake of breath, before the praise begins to flow.

‘He is, pure and simply, the car dealer that everyone in this industry aspires to emulate – me included,’ added another dealer boss who runs what most people would call a very successful group in itself.

Once again, Arnold Clark sits atop our 2022 Car Dealer Top 100 list of most profitable dealers, thanks to incredible £398m profits in 2021.

The Scotland-based business is quite simply a money-making juggernaut. It’s one car manufacturers fear and car dealers want to copy.

The next best placed dealer group, Sytner, was some £152m adrift in second place.

So how does Hawthorne manage to clock up profits at a rate of £33m a month?

Chatting to Car Dealer on Zoom from his office in Hillington, the Arnold Clark boss deftly dodges the question.