Polar Motor Group, the joint venture between Jardine Motors and Ford, has ambitious plans to develop its newly-acquired north London customer market area (CMA) into a £100m turnover territory.

The Ford CMA, with dealerships at Edgware Road, Highbury and Potters Bar, was acquired from Pendragon this month for an undisclosed amount. Its existing turnover is believed to be around £20m.

Alun Jones, Polar managing director, says the purchase strengthens the 40-outlet group's representation in and around the M25. It already operates Ford CMAs in east, north-east, west and south-west London, trading as Dagenham Motors, with further Ford dealerships across the M62 corridor.

“The north London CMA is one of the biggest retail territories in the UK, and possibly in Europe,” says Jones. “We believe it is worth 2000 retail sales, 2,000 fleet and 2000 used cars a year with the potential to turn over £80m-£100m.”

He is looking to further expand Polar representation in its two geographic regions, exploiting economies of scale to reduce costs.

Pendragon's willing sale of the outlets to Polar - it had only recently refurbished the Edgware showroom - is part of its repositioning to focus on prestige marques, particularly Ford Premier Automotive Group brands.

The group is also expanding outside the UK, recently adding the Land Rover franchise to its Jaguar dealership in Frankfurt, Germany. It has outlets in California and is believed to be looking to expand. The north London outlets were part of Stripestar, the former Ford project with Pendragon.