1:17 pm, July 27, 2026
Sinclair Motor Group has said 2025 was its toughest year since before Covid with profits down 38% despite turnover reaching more than £700m.
Newly-filed accounts, published on Companies House, show the Welsh dealer group increased turnover from £674.1m to £703.5m in the year to December 31, 2025.
However, pre-tax profit dropped from £4.38m to £2.73m, as the business reported a drop new car sales, tighter margins and rising operating costs.
In its strategic report, directors wrote: ‘The year 2025 was the toughest year we have had as a group since before the covid pandemic.
‘The motor trade as an Industry has experienced a very difficult period, and we were certainly not immune from its issues.
‘Throughout many of our sites we experienced a reduction in both turnover and profitability, which has obviously been testing for us as a group.’
The group faced challenges due to the Jaguar Land Rover cyberattack, which saw production halted for four months.
It said that this ‘had an impact on the volumes of Land Rover product we were able to deliver in the second half of the year. This had a material impact in our overall profitability for 2025’.
Sinclair Motor Group also faced increased operating costs from National Insurance, among other factors.
Directors said: ‘A major factor has been the increase in employment costs, following the UK Governments increases in National minimum wage in April, and also increases in National Insurance contributions.
‘In addition, we have experienced additional costs with ongoing increases in our electricity and gas usage. Whilst we all support the need for increase in living wages; this has delivered a staggering increase in cost to us as a group.’
New car sales during the year generated £317.1m, broadly flat on the £319.1m recorded in 2024, while used car revenue climbed almost nine per cent from £287.3m to £312.7m. Repairs and other sales also increased from £67.7m to £73.8m.
Despite the increase in used car revenue, directors said volumes had actually fallen as weaker new car sales reduced the number of part-exchange vehicles entering the market. However, they said tighter stock management had helped maintain profitability.
It said: ‘Whilst our sales numbers in used cars have reduced year on year, our overall health in used car stock and profitability has been excellent… our site’s used vehicle stocks are fresh and margins are strong.’
Directors struck an optimistic tone for 2026 though, saying many of the issues affecting the business were industry-wide and that trading had already begun to improve.
The board said it was ‘very confident that 2026 will represent a return to stronger profitability across the group’, adding that it had already seen ‘an increase in consumer confidence, which has driven weekly sales significantly up over the last few months.’
Sinclair also expects manufacturers to benefit from lower production costs for electric vehicles, leading to more affordable new car offers and improved retailer income per unit. The group said a raft of new model launches during 2026 should further boost demand, volumes and profitability.
Directors added that increased new car sales would generate more part-exchange stock, helping to strengthen used car volumes and profitability, while a larger vehicle parc would also drive more customers into its workshops.
The report concluded: ‘We are very positive that many of the industry issues are behind us, and the outlook for 2026 is strong… we are confident that our group profitability for 2026 will return to budgeted expectations.’
Image: Sinclair Swansea Jaguar Land Rover