Caffyns experienced “significant trading headwinds” in the year to 31 March 2026, delivering a pre-tax loss of -£1.7m compared to £246,000 profit the prior year on turnover down 2% to £270.7m.
Its new car unit deliveries fell by 11% as many of the brands it represents came under pressure from new Chinese entrants. Caffyns already has Chinese representation with MG and is in talks that could lead to taking on others.
Its used car unit sales rose by 4% boosted by Seat and Cupra expansion but margins came under pressure down 5%. Caffyns said shrinking new car sales in post Covid years meant the used car parc was smaller and competition intense to source cars at the right price.
As a result in June 2025, it closed its Caffyns Motorstore used car business in Lewes. Trading at its remaining Caffyns Motorstore business in Ashford remained subdued as the business struggled to source high-quality used cars.
Aftersales was strong with revenues up by 6% to £32.7m as it focused on customer retention and service plans. Service revenues grew by 8% and parts sales by 4%.
On the HR front it said Caffyns had a long tradition of investing in apprenticeship programmes and despite the pressures on the business, it had kept its apprenticeship numbers at a high level.
Simon Caffyn, chief executive, said: “We faced significant trading headwinds during the financial year ended 31 March 2026 and have taken a number of actions to increase order take and reduce costs. These actions are delivering improvement.”
