Porsche Retail Group, the factory owned dealer turned in the highest profit per employee in the Motor Trader Top 200 Dealer Groups.
The profit per employee was £65,189 in the rankings although this was substantially lower than the £76,755 delivered last time.
It was followed by CEM Day which delivered £52,467 per employee. In third slot was McLean & Appleton (£34,867), followed by Gravells (£34,131) and Mitchell Group (£33,878).
Report Author Chris Oakham said dealers had gone through a tough year. Because of the time lag with companies reporting at Companies House, nearly 80% of dealer group results in this edition of the Motor Trader Top 200 Franchised Dealer Groups report on the 2023 calendar year.
“This could be said to be the first ‘normal’ year after the Covid-19 pandemic and lockdowns. New car and parts supplies eased, although used cars were still suffering a hangover from the lack of new sales 2020 to 2022.
“The improvement in trading conditions was, though, hit by a ‘perfect storm’: pressure on gross margins; falling used car prices in the last quarter of 2023; inflationary increases in expenses and overheads; and rising interest rates affecting borrowing costs.
“Competition was tough across all departments weighing down on gross margins. Many groups, in their financial accounts, mentioned the debilitating effect on gross margins of falling used car prices in the last quarter of 2023.
“And many noted the shortage of used cars up to three years old – the most profitable segment – because of the dearth of new sales during the pandemic.”
Rank | Top 200 Rank | Company | Latest Pre-tax Profit (£000) | Latest Employees | Profit per Employee (£) |
1 | 41 | Porsche Retail Group | 22,034 | 338 | 65,189 |
2 | 62 | CEM Day | 30,326 | 578 | 52,467 |
3 | 48 | McLean & Appleton | 13,598 | 390 | 34,867 |
4 | 118 | Gravells | 5,154 | 151 | 34,131 |
5 | 153 | Mitchell Group | 3,591 | 106 | 33,878 |
6 | 34 | Cambria Automobiles | 20,790 | 628 | 33,105 |
7 | 42 | Currie Motors | 19,518 | 688 | 28,369 |
8 | 108 | Hildenborough Group | 4,273 | 158 | 27,046 |
9 | 181 | Richard Sanders | 1,941 | 74 | 26,232 |
10 | 27 | Dick Lovett Group | 24,353 | 964 | 25,262 |