Inchcape sales sent crashing
Thousands of jobs in the retail car market are under threat after Inchcape became the first major UK dealer to announce big staff cuts in what is the deepest recession in the modern motor industry.
Shares in Inchcape, which specialises in selling top-of-the-range marques such as Mercedes-Benz, Lexus, BMW and Land Rover, fell off the road today, plummeting 50¼p to a seven-year low of 76½p, a drop of 40% on the day and extending the collapse in the stock to 85% over the year.
Inchcape today said profits will be slashed and jobs cut, and markets are not expected to recover for more than a year.
It admitted its UK sales have slumped by almost 11% in the three months to the end of September, with the sale picture getting worse as the year goes on.
Sales of all cars were down 21% in September. Sales of Land Rovers halved, and Lexus volumes slumped 43%. BMW sales were off by more than a quarter while the Mini dropped 18%.
