The start of 2011 has seen high levels of trading at BCA, with the second week in January being one of the best on record for the Group.

BCA sold nearly 14,000 cars, vans and trucks during the week, generating a turnover approaching £70 million. Online sales continued to flourish with hundreds of professional buyers logging onto the Bid Now, Buy Now and Live Online services every day and nearly 3,000 vehicles being purchased by online bidders during that week alone.

BCA’s Communications Director Tony Gannon commented “There is a lot of pent-up demand in the marketplace, much of it due to the difficult pre-Christmas conditions affecting wholesale vehicle movements and reduced retail opportunities. That pressure is now being released and our remarketing centres and online channels are buzzing with professional buyers looking to replenish their stocks.”

BCA also announced a number of valuable new business acquisitions to start the year.

A new remarketing agreement with Trust Volkswagen Group – which operates dealerships at Redditch, Stourbridge and Wolverhampton.

At BCA Walsall, Brindley Garages Group started an exclusive programme of Saturday sales, featuring around 60 cars every week. Brindley Garages Group is the largest family owned dealer group in the West Midlands, with twelve sites representing ten new car franchises.

In the West Country, Cotswold Motor Group commence a new sales programme for 2011 at BCA Bridgwater, with a weekly sale offering around 30 units. The BMW & MINI specialist operates seven sites (3 BMW, 3 MINI and 1 Motorcycle) and will be offering quality prestige part-exchange vehicles with an average selling price of around £6,000.

In the South-east, Colbornes has started a weekly Live Online sales programme at BCA Blackbushe, offering 25 to 30 cars every Monday. Colbornes has been operating for over 60 years and were the first Volkswagen Retailers in the UK in 1949. The group has dealerships in Guildford, Camberley, Walton, Woking and Basingstoke selling VW, Audi and Skoda.

Gannon added “Over the past 18 months we have attracted many new businesses into the remarketing arena for the first time, as well as welcoming back customers who we have partnered in the past. We have worked hard to reach a position where we can deliver service flawlessly, exceed the expectations of our customers and deliver a unique sector-leading remarketing proposition. This business is about results and – from start to finish – BCA is setting standards that our competitors simply cannot emulate.”