Sunwin Motor Group has announced record sales of over £61 million for the first half of its financial year.

From February to August the motor group, with 13 dealerships across Yorkshire, enjoyed profits of £1.1 million - an increase of 20.5% on the previous half year.

General manager, Mike Austin said the record sales were the result of a more buoyant market in recent months as well as customers being attracted to the bigger and better selection of new and used cars offered by the dealerships.

Mr Austin said: "We have an honest, straight forward approach in dealing with our customers, which is why we have several generations of the same family come back time and again to buy cars from us. "We aim to build on this enviable reputation and are working hard to maintain and expand our loyal customer base."

So far this year, the group has sold 2,602 new cars across its network - an increase of 13.8% in sales on last year's 2,286 sold.

Mr Austin said: "There has been particular interest in high performance cars such as the recently launched MG saloons, but the Peugeot 206 continues to be our best selling car."

The group's performance was also boosted by the successful integration of the three Farnell dealerships acquired by Sunwin in 1999 - two Land Rover garages in Bradford and Guiseley and a Rover outlet also in Guiseley. As part of a long-term investment and expansion programme, Sunwin Motor Group - a trading division of Yorkshire Co-operatives - will invest over £1m during the next 12 months upgrading and refurbishing its dealerships. This includes the £400,000 redevelopment of the former Vauxhall showroom in Keighley, as part of plans to expand its sales and servicing of Peugeot cars.