Independent motor dealer Peoples has reported a fourth successive record year and signalled it remains open to expansion opportunities.
The family owned business, founded by Brian Gilda and now said to be the largest independent in Europe selling only Ford vehicles, saw turnover grow more than 15 per cent from £205 million to £236.7 million.
That helped push pre-tax profits up 26 per cent from £4.36m to £5.51m in the 12 months to July 31.
Total sales across the company’s dealerships, at Edinburgh, Livingston and Falkirk as well as four across the north-west of England, grew 8.1 per cent to 17,447 with the best-selling model the Fiesta.
Mr Gilda said: “The product line-up at the moment is exceptionally good and the access offers by the finance companies are exceptionally good.
“We live in a world where the consumer has got to feel confident about themselves.
“Those things together mean it has been a very buoyant market and we have certainly had a whopper of a year.”
The strong sales growth has continued into the current financial year with September said to have been the best month in the company’s history since it was formed in the early 1980s.
Mr Gilda said: “The market was up, commercial vehicle was up and aftersales was up. It was a perfect storm working in our favour.”
Mr Gilda also outlined his excitement about the forthcoming launch of the Mustang brand in the UK with all of the vehicles Peoples has been given for this year already sold.
He said: “We have probably pre-sold about half of what is coming through to us in 2016 as well. I have been in this business for a while and I haven’t seen a vehicle that has done these kind of numbers. It is quite special.”
Peoples, which employs 395 and pays at least 10 per cent greater than the minimum wage to all staff, said it had invested in the region of £3m updating and revamping its dealerships.
Group strategy and operations director Nicola Gilda, Brian’s daughter, said: “We constantly re-invest profits from the business into modernising and refurbishing showrooms and technical facilities to benefit customers and staff.”
Mr Gilda said he is actively considering expansion plans.
He said: “We have some good management who are ready to have a shot at doing something different and bigger.
“We are talking to Ford Motor Company as we speak about an opportunity that is presenting itself.”
Mr Gilda has sought assurances from Ford Europe chairman James Farley regarding the emissions standards of its vehicles in the wake of the Volkswagen scandal.
In a letter Mr Farley said: “Let me be absolutely clear. We do not use ‘defeat devices’ and we do not deliberately mislead the public, regulators or investors.”
Asked whether the Volkswagen situation could benefit Peoples Mr Gilda said: “Not in the short term.
“The British prerogative is not to jump up and down and create a stooshie, we prefer to wait and see.
“Those who have a Volkswagen that is what they are doing. We are certainly getting more calls we can trace from people owning Audis, VWs or Seats and the like.
“At the moment there is not a big change but I suspect it will start to happen once the consumer has a clear handle on what is going to happen with their car and what the trade in values will be. I suspect we will get a lift.”
Mr Gilda, a long-term Labour party supporter and donor, said he felt it would be best for the UK to stay in the European Union.
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