Sytner, the UK’s largest dealer group, took a hit in 2024 in what it described as an “eventful” year with profits down 54.5% to £57.3m on turnover down 1.9% to £7.29bn.
During the year it acquired Rybrook and its 16 franchise dealerships, including four BMW, four MINI, four Volvo, two Land Rover, one Jaguar and one Porsche. Three of the BMW retail locations also included BMW Motorrad franchises.
It said its used car supermarket business CarShop continued to be challenged with restricted used car supplies caused by lower new car sales in recent years. In April 2025, it sold a Sytner Select location in Manchester.
Sytner disposed of two locations and closed one with the remaining eight dealerships rebranded to Sytner Select, resulting in costs of £3m.
Sytner also closed four of its retail locations at the end of the year which resulted in non-recurring closure costs of £17m, including £8m impairment of assets.
New units increased by 27.6% following increases in new car sales specifically in Mercedes Benz which increased by over 5,000 units and with the addition of the new sites which added a further 8,000 units. Turnover did not increase due to the shift to the agency model.
Retail used units fell by 10.5% during the year because of the challenging conditions experienced in the used car supermarket businesses and the closures of businesses in that division.
Despite this reduction in turnover, gross profits improved as the Group switched the car supermarket business to a lower volume and higher margin model. Gross margin consequently improved from 14.3% to 14.7%.
