Automotive Financial Group (normally styled as AFG) was a British company specialising in automotive retailing and the sale of associated products and services. The company was founded by the Austro-Hungarian businessman

Octav Botnar Octav Botnar (October 21, 1913 – July 11, 1998) was a self-made businessman who founded Datsun UK (later Nissan UK) and its associated car retail business Automotive Financial Group (AFG). He was a noted philanthropist. Early life Botnar w ...

in 1985 as an extension of his successful Nissan import and distribution company, Nissan UK.

History and background

Botnar had successfully built up his successful business since 1970, importing and marketing

Datsun Datsun (, ) was an automobile brand owned by Nissan. Datsun's original production run began in 1931. From 1958 to 1986, only vehicles exported by Nissan were identified as Datsun. Nissan phased out the Datsun brand in March 1986, but relaunche ...

and Nissan cars in the United Kingdom. By 1980, the firm had achieved an overall market share of 6% and the UK was the only export market where Nissan outsold its arch rival

Toyota is a Japanese multinational automotive manufacturer headquartered in Toyota City, Aichi, Japan. It was founded by Kiichiro Toyoda and incorporated on . Toyota is one of the largest automobile manufacturers in the world, producing about 10 ...

. Botnar achieved this by appointing a network of small, family owned dealers (many of whom were former franchisees of the British Motor Corporation and

British Leyland British Leyland was an automotive engineering and manufacturing conglomerate formed in the United Kingdom in 1968 as British Leyland Motor Corporation Ltd (BLMC), following the merger of Leyland Motors and British Motor Holdings. It was partl ...

) to sell Datsun and by placing an emphasis on customer service. However, by the 1980s it had become clear that many of these businesses were too small to handle the vast amount of extra used stock and servicing/repair work that was now being generated. The solution Botnar arrived at was to buy out many of these smaller businesses to create a conglomerate that would allow larger, more profitable sites to be developed. At its peak, the resulting company operated 220 car dealerships in the UK, specialising in Nissan vehicles; approximately 160 of the 220 sites held Nissan franchises. By the end of the 1980s, however, Nissan had established an assembly plant in Sunderland and was considering taking the existing Japanese import and distribution business in house. Negotiations with Botnar over a possible take-over of Nissan UK began in 1988. After disputes between executives of Nissan in Japan and Botnar over pricing of the then new

Nissan Primera The is a large family car which was produced by the Japanese automaker Nissan from 1990 to 2007, for the markets in Japan and Europe. In Japan, it replaced the Auster/Stanza, and was exclusive to '' Nissan Prince Store'' locations. In North Am ...

in 1990, coupled with controversies surrounding alleged

tax fraud Tax evasion is an illegal attempt to defeat the imposition of taxes by individuals, corporations, trusts, and others. Tax evasion often entails the deliberate misrepresentation of the taxpayer's affairs to the tax authorities to reduce the taxp ...

implying certain AFG and Nissan UK executives (including Botnar himself), Nissan set up its own import and distribution business within the UK, appointing an all-new network of dealers. In 1991, Nissan terminated the supply of new vehicles to Nissan UK and AFG. The company was sold in 1994 to the

Barclay brothers Sir David Rowat Barclay (27 October 1934 – 10 January 2021) and Sir Frederick Hugh Barclay (born 27 October 1934), commonly referred to as the "Barclay Brothers" or "Barclay Twins", were British billionaires. They were identical twin brothers ...

for £200 million. As parts of the company were sold off, the remaining operations, under the name Caledonia Motor Group, refocused on sales of Fiat,

Alfa Romeo Alfa Romeo Automobiles S.p.A. () is an Italian luxury car manufacturer and a subsidiary of Stellantis. The company was founded on 24 June 1910, in Milan, Italy. "Alfa" is an acronym of its founding name, "Anonima Lombarda Fabbrica Automobili." "A ...

, Citroën,

Peugeot Peugeot (, , ) is a French brand of automobiles owned by Stellantis. The family business that preceded the current Peugeot companies was founded in 1810, with a steel foundry that soon started making hand tools and kitchen equipment, and the ...

and

Renault Groupe Renault ( , , , also known as the Renault Group in English; legally Renault S.A.) is a French multinational automobile manufacturer established in 1899. The company produces a range of cars and vans, and in the past has manufacture ...

north-west England North West England is one of nine official regions of England and consists of the ceremonial counties of England, administrative counties of Cheshire, Cumbria, Greater Manchester, Lancashire and Merseyside. The North West had a population of ...

. Caledonia launched a major expansion programme in 1998 to increase its dealership network, buying six sites in north-west England that were owned by United North West. In 1999, the company was subject to a management buyout. By 2000, it was operating nine franchises from eleven dealerships. However, it dropped its Renault franchise in 2002, selling the dealerships to Sunwin, Renault Retail Group and

Arnold Clark Sir John Arnold Clark (27 November 1927 – 10 April 2017) was a Scottish billionaire businessman. Clark opened a showroom in Glasgow in 1954 and found some success selling cars. He expanded his business and Arnold Clark Automobiles beca ...

. In 2006, it lost its Alfa Romeo dealer franchise, which resulted in the group only being able to provide servicing for cars. In 2008, the company was placed in

receivership In law, receivership is a situation in which an institution or enterprise is held by a receiver—a person "placed in the custodial responsibility for the property of others, including tangible and intangible assets and rights"—especially in c ...

; the remaining sites were acquired by Cambria Automobiles and became part of its Motor Parks chain.

References

{{Reflist Auto dealerships of the United Kingdom Companies based in East Sussex British companies established in 1985 Retail companies established in 1985