By HUGH HUNSTON,
Motoring Correspondent
ARNOLD CLARK, the Glasgow-based car dealer, has expanded his empire
into Dundee, Perth, and Aberdeen with a #2m takeover of the Ron
Hutcheson Group, which brings the Russian Lada brand into Clark's
multi-franchise portfolio.
Former journalist Mr Hutcheson, 52, who moved into the car trade in
1970, has parted with Fiat outlets in Perth and Dundee, plus Proton and
Lada franchises in Dundee and Aberdeen, where he also sold Citroens.
One of the conditions of the buyout was continuity of employment for
the 110 workers, which raises the Arnold Clark Organisation's payroll to
around 1300 people, from its beginnings in a tenement showroom in
Kelvinbridge, Glasgow, in 1954.
Despite their bargain basement image, Ladas generate a very high
profit retention for their 218 British dealers, and in Scotland the
cars, built at the Togliatti factory, on the banks of the Volga, account
for nearly 2% of the new model market.
Mr Clark's group, with an operating profit last year of #3.2m, and
turnover of #120m, has been concentrated within Scotland's central belt
until the opening of contract hire, and hire drive operations in
Sheffield and Liverpool earlier this year.
His car-selling interests now span Ford, Rover, General Motors,
Citroen, Fiat, VW-Audi, Renault, Peugeot, Seat, Lada and the Malaysian
Proton marque, with Japanese models conspicuously absent from the
international line-up.
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