Virgin says its on-line car retailing operation will have recovered its start-up costs and be in profit by September, 15 months after launch, and it is now preparing to introduce a motorcycle selling operation.

A spokesman for Virgin Cars said that in January it achieved its highest ever sales figures, “at one point selling £1m worth of cars in just one day”.

And in the 10 months since launch Virgin Cars has sold more than 3,800 cars and by April will have delivered 2,500 cars from a portfolio of 1,300 models from 30 manufacturers.

Ian Lancaster, Virgin Cars' chief executive, said: “Over the past few months we have seen our business expand considerably. Unlike some of our competitors we have not had to rely on a high advertising budget to increase our sales.

“We continue to set ourselves achievable challenges and we have a number of exciting business developments taking place over the next few months, including improvements to our website and the move into the scooter and motorbike market.”

May is set to see the launch of Virgin Bikes, retailing motorcycles, scooters, accessories and clothing online.