6th Mar 2006 07:03
Inchcape PLC06 March 2006 6 March 2006 INCHCAPE EXPANSION INTO RUSSIA Joint venture signed with Independence Group for retail and service of Toyota vehicles in high growth Moscow market Inchcape plc ('Inchcape' or the 'Group'), the international automotive retailgroup, today announces its expansion into the high growth Russian market.Inchcape has entered into a joint venture with the Independence Group ofCompanies ('Independence'), one of Moscow's leading independent car retailers,for the retail and service of Toyota, one of Inchcape's core global brandpartners. The joint venture will establish two retail and service centres in Moscow forToyota vehicles. The retail centres, which will be newly constructed, are due toopen in the second half of 2007 and are expected to become Inchcape's largestretail outlets in Europe. Toyota is one of the most successful foreign brands in Russia with sales ofaround 60,000 units in 2005, and a market share of foreign brand car sales ofover 10.0%. Russia is the largest car market in Central and Eastern Europe and isexperiencing rapid growth in automotive sales. In recent years foreign brandshave been increasing their share of overall sales in Russia, with a 61.0%increase in sales in 2005 to 567,000 units. The foreign brand share of sales isforecast to increase from 38.0%, of the total new car market in 2005, to over50.0% with estimated sales of some 900,000 units by 2010. The joint venture, which will be 51.0% owned by Inchcape and 49.0% owned byIndependence, marks the Group's first entry into the important growth market ofMoscow, which has seen the highest growth in Russia over recent years. Moscowcurrently represents approximately 50.0% of foreign brand sales in Russia. Independence is a multi-franchise automotive retail group based in Moscow. Itwas established in 1992 and has become one of the leading automotive retailersover the last fourteen years with twelve showrooms and six service centres inMoscow. Its current brand portfolio includes Jaguar, Land Rover, Volvo,Volkswagen, Audi, Ford and Mazda. The joint venture will initially invest around US$35.0m in the construction andfit out of the new facilities. The sites will be based to the south east andsouth west of Moscow where growth opportunities have been identified for theToyota brand. Andre Lacroix, Group Chief Executive of Inchcape, commented: "This joint venture with Independence is an important step for Inchcape in itsexpansion plan for Moscow and the Russian market place. It has been vital for usto find the right opportunity with the right partners, and with this jointventure we have created a strong platform from which to develop a largerpresence in Russia over time. Roman Chaikovskiy, Chairman of Independence, commented: "Inchcape is one of the world's leading car retailers. The Group enjoys a stronglong term relationship with Toyota, and we are excited to have this excellentopportunity to partner with Inchcape and retail one of the most successfulforeign brands in Russia." Notes to editors For further information, please contact: Group Communications, Inchcape plc020 7546 0022 Hogarth Partnership Limited (John Olsen/Barnaby Fry)020 7357 9477 Inchcape is a scale automotive retail group operating in Australia, Belgium,Greece, Hong Kong, Singapore and the UK. The Group also has operations in anumber of other global markets. In addition to growing our core businesses, weare looking to develop scale operations in new and emerging regions. Werepresent leading automotive brands and operate either a retail, or a verticallyintegrated retail model (i.e. exclusive distribution and retail), depending onthe market. Our key manufacturer partners are Toyota/Lexus, Subaru, BMW, thePremier Automotive Group of Ford, Mazda, Mercedes-Benz and Volkswagen. For further information, visit us at www.inchcape.com This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock ExchangeRelated Shares:
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