Trevor Finn's reign as Pendragon's chief executive is coming to an end.

The nationwide car dealer group, which trades under the Evans Halshaw and Stratstone brands,  announced that Finn plans to retire after 30 years heading the business, and he will leave his post by March 31, 2019.

Pendragon said he has agreed to continue as CEO for an interim period until no later than that date, to allow for an orderly transition.

The company, whose headquarters is at Annesley near Nottingham, has begun a formal process to appoint his successor.

Chris Chambers, non-executive chairman of Pendragon, said: "I would like to thank Trevor for all his efforts throughout a long and successful career approaching 30 years with the company. The board fully respects Trevor’s decision and wishes him well for the future.”

Finn said: "Pendragon is, and remains a great company full of talented people, and I feel privileged to have led the business during its formative period and ignite the transformative period of development currently underway. The time is now right to hand over to a successor to see the company through the next phase of its development."

Finn, 61, and his chief operating officer Martin Casha, 58, have steered Pendragon since it de-merged from Williams PLC in 1989, with 19 dealerships and a contract hire division.

Over three decades he and his team grew the business into a group which at its peak had more than 300 franchised dealerships, including sites in Germany and America, and turnover exceeding £5 billion.

Its major acquisitions included Quicks, CD Bramall and Reg Vardy.

Finn directed Pendragon through several economic recessions, including the 2008 global collapse, when its share price slumped to around 3 pence, before rallying once the group completed a refinancing. The share price was 23.65p as of late Friday, when Finn's planned departure was announced.

Finn holds more than 16.5 million shares in Pendragon, a 1.2% stake.

The dealer group's current strategy is to build a nationwide network of used car supermarkets, plus support its mainstream and premium brand franchised dealerships through physical and online retailing, and to build sales internationally from its software business, Pinewood.