Lookers’ car dealerships sold more than 160,000 new and used cars in 2015 and increased the group’s revenues by £593 million.

Of that, £330m was through organic growth, with the remaining £263m increase was due to acquisitions, including Benfield.

Overall, turnover from its motor division of 153 car dealerships representing 31 manufacturers reached £3.4 billion and profit before tax rose 11% to £64.5m.

Lookers reported that its share of the UK car market increased by 04ppts, following its 15,521 rise in new car sales to 90,009 units and a 9,640 uplift in used car volumes to 70,492 units.

Lookers' chief executive Andy Bruce (pictured) said: “The company has achieved outstanding growth in recent years and we believe the significant investment we are making in upgrading our facilities to reflect the latest manufacturer retail standards and multi-channel experience will give us a competitive advantage and further improve our position of leadership in the motor retail sector.”

Lookers’ total group turnover, which includes its parts wholesale division which supplies motor factors, was up 20% to £3.65bn and operating profit increased 12% to £85.9m while adjusted PBT was 11% ahead at £72.1m.

Bruce said: “We have delivered another strong trading performance in 2015, our seventh year of increased profits, which provides further evidence that our business model is both resilient and expansive through the cycle.

“Our motor division and our parts divisions also produced excellent results, showing the diversity and strength of our operations.

“Our strategy is to have the right brands, the right locations and excellent execution. By implementing this, we are ideally placed to take advantage of growth prospects across all areas of the business as well as consolidation opportunities in the sector, not least because businesses of scale will be the winners in our sector.

“This gives us confidence that we will deliver another improved performance in 2016.”