Peter Vardy in jobs pledge as dealer converts all Scottish Vauxhall showrooms into used car supermarkets

Scottish car dealer Peter Vardy is to expand its used car operations after ending its 14-year relationship with Vauxhall.

Chief executive Peter Vardy said the eponymous car dealer had fast tracked its plans.

The firm has pledged to retain all of the roles impacted at existing Vauxhall showroom sites in Aberdeen, Dalgety Bay, Edinburgh, Kirkcaldy, Motherwell and Perth.

The plan is to convert the sites into used car supermarkets during the summer.

The expansion of the used car operations, soon to be rebranded as Carz, will double the group’s annual used car volumes.

Chief executive Peter Vardy said: “We have been working on this growth strategy for some time, however, 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 which along 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 and 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.”

A joint statement from the car dealer and Vauxhall said: “Vauxhall Motors and Peter Vardy Limited 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.”

Vardy added: “Whilst we will no longer represent Vauxhall as a manufacturer in Scotland by the end of June 2021, we have enjoyed a great relationship with it across the years and it has been an integral part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, however, that our strategy to focus more on used car supermarkets and luxury car brands is the right path for us to take now.

“All Peter Vardy colleagues at existing Vauxhall sites in Aberdeen, Dalgety Bay, Edinburgh, Kirkcaldy, Motherwell and Perth will have their roles secured, while given our ambitious growth plans, we expect significant new roles to be created.”

A message from the Editor:

Thank you for reading this article. We’re more reliant on your support than ever as the shift in consumer habits brought about by coronavirus impacts our advertisers. If you haven’t already, please consider supporting our trusted, fact-checked journalism by taking out a digital subscription: www.scotsman.com/subscriptions