A HUGE car brand has been forced to close and sell off all its UK dealerships after suffering “heavy losses”.
‘s annual accounts revealed the group has “disposed of its remaining leasehold premises” after years of struggling financially.
The documents, filed via Companies House, show the group has been settling its debts with a view of ceasing trading soon.
They also revealed directors should “not expect any further future trading activity” with the company.
This follows years of , including a £35 million loss in 2019 and a £20.9 million loss in 2020.
Confirming the latest news, director Wolfgang Pipperger said: “During the period, the company sold its remaining at which point the company ceased to trade.
“After the reporting date, the company disposed of its remaining leasehold premises, recovered its remaining trade and other receivables and settled any outstanding trade and other payables with a view to move the company into a dormant status.
“The directors do not expect any further future trading activity within the company.”
This follows the closure of a Mercedes-Benz dealership in Bradford late last year.
The dealership, which was around for 70 years, announced it would cease trading on October 31.
The closure came as began the brutal task of closing some of its sites – months after it was acquired by Lithia Motors.
The US giants picked up Stratstone and Evans Halshaw in February after completing its takeover of Pendragon in a huge £397 million deal.
Then, in April, it was reported that Lithia had cut around 250 by binning off used car supermarket brand CarShop.
Since then, Stratstone's network of sites has been largely unaffected until now – which has seen Mercedes-Benz of Bradford joined by the Tyneside BMW and Mini dealership.
Another ex-Pendragon site – Evans HalshawNorthwich – also closed its doors.
According to the Stratstone website, the Bradford-based dealership opened in 1953 and was the first dealer and distributor for all Mercedes vehicles in the North of England, and is the oldest in the UK.
It stood at its original site until it was destroyed in a fire in 1963; then the business moved to Thornton Road, where it remained until its closure last week.
