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Lamborghini is
doubling its UK presence with two new dealerships, operated
by the Sytner Group, opening in Birmingham and Edinburgh.
Lamborghini currently has two UK dealerships, located in
London and Manchester, both of which are operated by another
prestige brand focused automotive group, HR Owen, who in
fact next month will be opening their first Alfa Romeo
showroom in the capital. By adding dealerships in Birmingham
(the UK's second city) and Edinburgh (the capital of
Scotland) the Raging Bull brand is plugging the gaps and
achieving an excellent geographical spread across the
country. Both cities are experiencing grow with Edinburgh in
particular attracting high income residents. The Lamborghini
Birmingham dealership is to be located in the Willenhall
district of the city close to junction 10 of the M6
motorway, while Lamborghini Edinburgh is situated near to
the end of the Edinburgh City Bypass (east bound) and the
end of the A1 (north bound). A dedicated service centre in
High Wycombe is also planned.
Stephan
Winkelmann, Lamborghini President and CEO commented about
the deal: "The UK market is extremely important to
Lamborghini. It is one of our five most significant
world-wide markets. The opening of two new dealerships is a
result of our strategy to ensure our growing customer base
is served geographically, in terms of both sales and
aftersales outlets.
Gerard
Nieuwenhuys, Sytner’s Group Managing Director went on to
say: "We are extremely pleased to develop Lamborghini’s
representation in the UK with operations in Birmingham and
Scotland. The Birmingham location provides Lamborghini with
its planned vantage point for the Midlands and West Country,
whilst Lamborghini Edinburgh will serve the extremely
important Scottish market."
SYTNER GROUP
In the 1960’s Frank Sytner founded the
Sytner Group with his brother, owner of the
famous Cavern Club. The first dealership to
open was Sytner Nottingham in 1968, selling
BMW’s, a brand that would become very close
to Frank’s heart twenty years later. In 1970
Frank began his racing career in Formula
Ford 1600, then onto Clubmans Formula Ford
2000. After moving into British Touring Cars
he became the BTCC Overall and Class B
Champion in 1988, driving a Prodrive BMW M3
and continued a successful BTCC career for
the next three years. Renowned for being
highly competitive behind the wheel, Frank
Sytner then focused his energies into
building up the Sytner Group.
The expansion began in 1993 with the
acquisition of a BMW dealership in
Leicester, followed by a new BMW dealership
in Sheffield. Sytner then diversified into
other prestige marques in 1995 with the
addition of the Group’s first Mercedes-Benz,
Ferrari and Audi dealerships in Bristol,
Loughborough and Leeds respectively. In 1996
the first Sytner-owned PAG franchise was
opened in the form of Land Rover Sheffield,
followed by Chrysler Jeep Stockport, Land
Rover Leeds and Rivervale Porsche in 1997.
With the franchise count approaching double
figures, the company name changed to Sytner
Group PLC as it was floated on the stock
market in 1997. In 1998, a family-run Land
Rover and Jaguar business in Thames Ditton
were purchased from Mr Guy Salmon. This
well-known name renowned for service and
reliability later became the banner of all
Sytner-owned Land Rover and Jaguar
franchises. Additions were made to the BMW
and Ferrari brand count in 1999, in the form
of BMW City and Ferrari Sheffield.
Undoubtedly the largest single acquisition
in the Group’s history was made during
August 1999 in the form of the Ixion Motor
Group. Overnight this almost doubled the
number of franchises in the Group including:
BMW Solihull and Gerrards Cross; Jaguar
dealerships in Coventry, Northampton and
Oxford; Land Rover in Coventry; Chrysler
Jeep in Oxford and brand additions Volvo in
Coventry with Saab and Lexus in Oxford.
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By adding dealerships in Birmingham (the UK's second
city) and Edinburgh (the capital of Scotland) the
Raging Bull brand is plugging the gaps and achieving
an excellent geographical spread across the country. |
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Lamborghini President
and CEO Stephan Winkelmann (middle) introduces the
Bologna-based brand's latest sportscar model - the
Murcielago LP640 - at the Geneva Motor Show in
March. |
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Lamborghini is doubling its UK presence with two new
dealerships, operated by the Sytner Group, opening
in Birmingham and Edinburgh. |
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Between 2000 and 2001 the Group opened four
new dealerships: Lexus Leicester, Jaguar in
Stratford-upon-Avon, Wakefield Audi and
Kings Chrysler Jeep in Liverpool. Sytner
also acquired Mercedes-Benz of
Weston-Super-Mare, Land Rover
Stratford-upon-Avon and BMW High Wycombe
from independent traders as well as Bentley
Manchester and Land Rover Knutsford from the
Ron Stratton Group. In 2002 the Sytner Group
expansion plan gathered even more speed and
experienced a major landmark in its history.
It opened new Volvo dealerships in
Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwick and Twickenham
as well as the first of an array of Toyota
franchises in Birmingham. Land Rover
Wakefield was acquired by the Group and, due
to a dramatic change in manufacturer
direction, a total of six Mercedes-Benz
dealerships located in Newbury, Milton
Keynes, Kettering, Bath, Swindon and
Gloucester were added to the Sytner
portfolio.
During the same
year, a major player in the American retail motor industry
showed an interest in buying the Sytner Group. On February
12th 2002, UnitedAuto Group (UAG) announced a $135 million
offer to purchase Sytner Group PLC. UAG recognised Sytner as
an exciting opportunity to expand their operations in the UK
through a multi-franchise company who would compliment their
brand portfolio whilst being committed to similar values and
aims. In addition to being a successful businessman, UAG
Chairman Roger Penske, was no stranger to the world of motor
racing. As the owner of Indy 500 Champions Penske Racing and
a former racing driver, Roger shared a motorsport connection
with Frank Sytner as well as similar business ethics.
Following the UAG acquisition, former Sytner Group Chief
Executive Laurence Vaughan took up the position of Chairman,
Gerard Nieuwenhuys became Managing Director of Operations
and Mark Morris became Managing Director of Finance. The
majority of the Sytner management team along with the Sytner
Group mission statement remain unchanged. Today Frank Sytner
is retained as an advisor to the board whilst continuing his
motorsport career by racing Historic sports cars on famous
circuits such as the Goodwood track.
With
opportunities for further investment and the backing of UAG,
Sytner grew from strength to strength in 2003. Mercedes-Benz
Cribbs Causeway kick-started the staggering expansion of a
further eighteen Sytner-owned dealerships in the UK. These
included six Toyota dealerships, three based in the Bristol
area and three in South Wales as well as two Lexus
franchises located in Bristol and Cardiff. The BMW dealer
count rose higher with acquisitions in Chigwell and Harold
Wood. A new Porsche franchise located near famous racing
circuit Silverstone was opened in June 2003. Following this,
two Mercedes-Benz dealerships in Bedford and Northampton
were purchased from competitors Pendragon. Lexus Birmingham,
Land Rover Stockport, Audi Bradford and Bentley Birmingham
were also purchased during 2003 running up to a new Chrysler
Jeep franchise in Gloucester in 2004.
During 2004 two
multi-dealership acquisitions were made - Aston Green Ltd
and Glenvarigill Ltd. Aston Green more than doubled the
number of Audi dealerships in the group with a cluster of
locations including Slough, West London, Reading, Guildford,
Victoria and Mayfair. Glenvarigill enabled Sytner to expand
North of the border into Scotland with additions to the
specialist division. This boasted Porsche, Bentley, Ferrari
and Maserati representation in Edinburgh along with a
Porsche Centre in Glasgow. Further developments in 2004
included a brand new Toyota dealership in Tamworth and a
spectacular new Ferrari and Maserati dealership in
Nottingham, merging the two former sites operating from
Loughborough and Sheffield. In the north, the acquisition of
Harrogate Audi from Massingberd strengthened the existing
Sytner-owned Audi presence in the North.
The Sytner Group
continues to grow at an impressive rate as well as showing
an excellent performance within the prestige and specialist
market. This year has seen some exciting developments for
Sytner BMW and MINI with the opening of a new super-site in
High Wycombe, merging two smaller sites in High Wycombe and
Gerrards Cross, and a new retail outlet in the exclusive
Docklands area in London. The most recent acquisition has
been a further additional Chrysler Jeep franchise in
Swindon. In accordance with the massive growth of the Sytner
Group, earlier this year the head office operations also
expanded with an additional location in Leicester, just off
junction 21 of the M1. This has brought the majority of
Sytner’s central services under one roof, including a new
training centre, customer contact centre and database
operations.
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