Marshall plan completed

▶ Constellation Automotive Group – owners of British Car Auctions, webuyanycar.com and online retailer Cinch along with electric car subscription service elmo and mainland European operation Carnext.com – have now completed its purchase of the Marshall Motor Holdings – the car dealership side of the Cambridge-based Marshall Group. Regulatory approval was given by the Financial Conduct Authority at the end of May, and the purchase was finalised by the end of June.

Marshall Motor Holdings has in recent years expanded far beyond its Cambridgeshire/east Anglia routes. In 2015 it acquired the long-established Kent, Surrey and Southeast London based S G Smith Group, and in 2021, just three months before the Marshall/constellation deal was announced, Marshall acquired the 48-strong Motorline Group.

Marshall now has 162 dealerships spread across England and Wales and covering 26 makes. There was at one point concern that some manufacturers might be unhappy about this change and the size of Marshall’s new owners, but these issues too seem to have been resolved.

Unsurprisingly, this has already resulted in Marshall Group part-exchanges being offered through BCA branches. Just a month after the deal was finalised more than 200 Marshall Group part-exes were listed by BCA and at sites right across the country from Bridgwater to Preston. This total is likely to increase, as existing deals and arrangements for part-ex disposal are changed; it’s inconceivable that, as owners of the UK’S biggest car auction group, Constellation would want any of its part-exes processed by competitors.

The cars seem to be a pretty mixed bunch with something for everyone – when we looked, the newest car was a 2021 Audi with a CAP Clean Value of £28,350 – the oldest, a 2002 Vauxhall Astra with a (theoretical) CAP value of £290.

Most, though, seemed to be low ownership stuff with decent histories – good retail stock in other words.