Bates Motor Group has acquired the Veritas Volkswagen and Audi dealerships in Southend in a “multi-million pound” deal.

New brand identities will be applied to both businesses, with the Volkswagen centre adopting the group's Argent Volkswagen branding and the Audi centre will become Southend Audi.

The acquisitions bring the number of German marque dealerships owned by the group to 10, four BMW, three Audi and three VW.

Bates Motor Group is due to publish its end-of-year results next month and will report an annual turnover in excess of £100m.