Vertu Motors becomes biggest BMW motorbike retailer in Britain
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Vertu Motors becomes Britain’s largest BMW motorcycle retailer after purchasing two showrooms in Yorkshire
- Vertu has just bought two BMW Motorrad locations in Shipley and Rotherham
- These latest showrooms were purchased from the Saltaire Motor Company
- The car dealer already has three Honda bicycle locations
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Vertu Motors has become the UK’s largest seller of BMW motorcycles after acquiring a few dealers in Yorkshire from a long-running family business.
The auto retailer revealed on Tuesday that it had bought two BMW Motorrad plants in Shipley and Rotherham from the Saltaire Motor Company, which trades under the Alan Jefferies brand.
These showrooms have now become part of the Vertu Motorcycles business and complement the existing BMW facility in Sunderland and three Honda bicycle branches.
Acquisition: Automotive retailer Vertu Motors revealed it had bought two BMW Motorrad plants in Shipley and Rotherham from the Saltaire Motor Company
Vertu said it had spent an estimated £4.2 million on buying the latest sites, of which £1.85 million related to a property value and a further £500,000 as a result of a goodwill payment.
It warned that these outlets will incur a financial loss for the remaining four months of the fiscal year due to the seasonality of motorcycle purchases, but the company expects to make a profit in its first full year of ownership.
BMW started producing motorcycles about a century ago when it was temporarily prevented from building aircraft engines by the terms of the Treaty of Versailles that followed World War I.
The company’s very first model, the R32, featured a flat-twin boxer engine, a configuration it still uses today, breaking the land speed record in 1929.
Last year, BMW Motorrad sold a record 194,261 units worldwide, up 14.8 percent from the previous 12 months, helped by strong demand in Europe, China and the United States.
In the UK, where they have dozens of outlets, it was the largest seller of ‘large bicycles’, with a market share of 16.6 percent.
Robert Forrester, CEO of Vertu, said: “Our company is performing strongly and the addition of two more BMW Motorrad locations will contribute to the group both financially and strategically.”
Vertu Motors Shares rose 4.3 percent to 47.6 pence late Tuesday afternoon, though their value has fallen 35 percent since the start of 2022.
Like many UK car dealers, Vertu has benefited greatly from semiconductor shortages over the past 18 months, pushing prices for both new and old vehicles up.
Sales have slowed somewhat in recent months as increased inflationary pressures have led to lower consumer purchases, with sales in the six months ending August rising just 3.9 percent from a year earlier.
Still, the company said it expected annual profits to exceed market expectations due to strong margins that offset weaker sales volumes due to supply chain constraints.