Three Vauxhall car dealerships in Tayside and Fife are preparing to close.
Peter Vardy will end its relationship with the car manufacturer in the middle of next year.
Its Vauxhall dealerships in Perth, Dalgety Bay and Kirkcaldy will be converted into used car supermarkets next summer. No jobs will be lost.
Futures in different directions
A joint statement said: “Vauxhall Motors and Peter Vardy have been in discussion recently and have now agreed a mutual and managed exit from each other which will take effect in mid-2021.
“Peter Vardy has been a long-standing investor and valued partner of Vauxhall Motors, but the industry is changing and evolving quickly resulting in the fact that the respective future strategies of the two companies lie in different directions.
“Both companies are working closely together to ensure that this decision is handled professionally to minimise any impact for Vauxhall customers.
“The positive business relationship that has always existed between Vauxhall Motors and Peter Vardy will be essential over the next few months to ensure that happens.”
Change for Dundee CarStore operation
The announcement comes just days after Peter Vardy reported strong trading this year despite its dealerships closing during lockdown.
The group started with its Vauxhall dealership in Perth in 2006 and has since expended to have 14 car dealerships across Scotland and sales approaching £500 million a year.
Its Vauxhall dealerships in Aberdeen, Motherwell and Edinburgh will also convert into used car centres.
Chief executive Peter Vardy said the move is partly due to the success of its used car CarStores operations in Glasgow and Dundee.
These and the current Vauxhall sites will be rebranded under a new Carz brand. The group’s used car sales are expected to double.
Potential Brexit impact on car supply
Mr Vardy said: “We have been working on this growth strategy for some time.
“The events of this year have meant we have fast tracked these plans.
“There has been a significantly increased level of demand for used vehicles.
“With challenges around the supply of new vehicles, and with Brexit potentially making this even harder, it makes sense to move our plans forward.
“Our CarStores in Glasgow and Dundee have been extremely successful since launch.
“We will be turning our current Vauxhall sites into used car supermarkets as well as going through a full re-brand which we think will be a really exciting step.”
The group has also invested significantly in its ecommerce platform this year. It aims to become the number one digital automotive retailer in the UK.
Move could lead to job creation
Mr Vardy said repurposing the Vauxhall dealerships into used car sites could lead to more staff being hired .
He added: “All Peter Vardy colleagues at existing Vauxhall sites will have their roles secured.
“Given our ambitious growth plans, we expect significant new roles to be created.
“The strength of our business is its people, so it was vitally important that we were able to secure roles for all our current colleagues.
“We expect to start a recruitment drive well ahead of July as this move is very much a growth plan with significantly increased sales numbers across the group as a result.
“Whilst we will no longer represent Vauxhall as a manufacturer in Scotland by the end of June 2021, we have enjoyed a great relationship with it across the years.
“It has been an integral part of our success and growth since we first launched as a single Vauxhall site in 2006 in Perth.
“We believe our strategy to focus more on used car supermarkets and luxury car brands is the right path for us to take now.”
Peter Vardy said all its used car supermarkets will all become service centres and it will continue to service any Vauxhall cars it has sold.
