Pentagon enjoys early BYD success, plans for greater presence

Pentagon Motor Group is enjoying significant early sales success with Chinese manufacturer BYD having already sold 60 vehicles in the first full month of operations.

Matched by a fourfold rise in online enquiries through its Lincoln dealership website, the business is now looking at its other locations to extend the BYD offering.

The Chinese manufacturer joined the dealership’s brand line-up at its Motor Village site on Tritton Road in Lincoln in December, joining Vauxhall, Peugeot, Mazda, and shortly Renault and Dacia.

David Peel, managing director of Pentagon, a core part of Motus Group (UK), said: “It is an encouraging start: BYD is the newest Chinese brand entering the UK and European marketplace, and it does so having recently been judged the biggest global EV manufacturer, taking over the top spot from Tesla – no mean feat!”

“I went to the Munich Motor Show last year, specifically to research BYD, and came away very impressed. They were the stars of the show for many people I talked to, having invested in securing a major presence. Their vehicle platform is flexible, producing a variety of models across different segments, and the initial UK offering at our Lincoln centre comprises the Atto 3, Dolphin and Seal. Great looking quality products designed with UK consumers in mind.”

The arrival of BYD has already added a further five jobs at Tritton Road where all admin, sales, service and parts activities for the new arrival is being handled. The business sees the addition of BYD as not only a very significant sales platform in its own right, but also an interest-trigger to drive additional footfall and new customers to the multi-brand site.

BYD has established itself at 27 retailers at the end of 2023, and plans up to 50 more dealerships in the first half of 2024. The company also recently announced it will open its first European production facility in Szeged, Hungary.

Pentagon Group brand director Rob Schofield, who also oversees Vauxhall, KIA, Renault, DACIA, Mazda and FIAT Professional brands for Pentagon, added: “Without doubt, we will look at our other locations which we hope might offer BYD the modern professional dealership sites it’s looking for. For us, the arrival of BYD at our Pentagon Motor Village site in Lincoln allows us to work not only with retail customers, but also our many major fleet clients, a number of whom are already keen to get involved with these new vehicles.”

Across its strong Midlands/Northern footprint, Pentagon Motor Group now has 64 franchise points across 31 locations, covering both passenger vehicles and light commercial vehicles with 18 brands.