Ford dealer network shake-up may impact industry as a whole

A seismic shake-up of the Ford of Britain franchised car retail network could have far-reaching consequences for the industry as a whole, report Tom Sharpe and Craig Thomas.

Ford is embarking on the biggest shake-up of any UK franchised car retail network since the collapse of MG Rover in 2005.

Its decision to close between 160 and 180 of its 400 UK car dealerships as part of its ‘Ford 2025 dealer plan’ is of a larger scale than Vauxhall’s March 2018 announcement that it would terminate the contracts of its entire 324-strong network, when it trimmed its scale by 100 sites.