Pendragon PLC is a multi-national operator of franchised vehicle dealerships in the UK with outlets overseas in the USA.

How We Started

Pendragon became a public limited company when the vehicle division of Williams PLC was de-merged in 1989, at that time operating 19 car dealerships, representing specialist and luxury franchises, in addition to a small contract hire business. Since then we have enhanced our portfolio with our chosen partners and now represent over 20 manufacturer brands from over 300 locations.

How it has changed

Our portfolio was extended to incorporate the volume franchises of Ford and Vauxhall in 1990 and we added a number of motorcycle manufacturers in 1995.

To further enhance our portfolio we acquired Pinewood Computers in 1998, who are specialists in dealer management systems for the retail motor industry.

In 1999 we acquired Evans Halshaw making us the largest motor dealer group in the UK. The following year we acquired 32 dealerships from Lex Services PLC.

Launching our presence in the USA, Bauer Jaguar became part of our portfolio in July 2000, which formed the nucleus for our further acquisitions within the US.

We gained the high profile locations of Beverley Hills and Santa Monica, California with our acquisition of the Hornburg Inc. and South Coast Jaguar at San Juan Capistrano.In early 2003 we acquired two Land Rover businesses in Newport Beach and Mission Viejo, and our first Lincoln Mercury dealership in California.

The acquisition of CD Bramall in 2004 and Reg Vardy, Speeds and Williamson Renault and Nissan in Darlington in 2006 enhanced our national geographic coverage, and allowed us to build large scale relationships with key manufacturers.

Today our ethos focuses on bigger relationships with fewer manufacturers, concentrating on market areas with our volume manufacturer retail brand Evans Halshaw, and retailing specialist marques as Stratstone.