Statstone, the company that continued to restructure after being acquired by US investors, closed a historic Mercedes car dealership after more than 70 years.

The dealer group was acquired by Lithia Motors as part of a £397 million deal earlier this year. It has acquired the UK retail arm of US giant Pendragon.

Car Dealer in April, Lithia Approximately 250 people were laid off CarShop is destroying the used car supermarket brand, but so far the Stratstone network remains largely unaffected by the takeover.

But now, according to reports, the firm has also sold its Tyneside BMW and Mini dealership and closed its Mercedes-Benz of Bradford site in Cheshire with immediate effect. this morning (November 4).

The move, confirmed in an email to customers, brings the curtain down on more than seven decades of trading in the West Yorkshire city.

Telegraph and Argus It reports that the brand first came to Bradford in 1953, when the franchise was run by Charles Sidney.

It stood in its original location until a fire destroyed the building in 1963, when the team moved to a new home on Thornton Road.

Stratstone bought the business in 2008 and it remained at the Thornton Road site until its closure last week.

The dealer group now says on its website that ‘Mercedes-Benz of Bradford ceases trading in November 2024’. Meanwhile, the dealership is listed as ‘permanently closed’ on Google.

In an email to customers, Stratstone said: ‘As a valued customer, we are contacting you to confirm that the Stratstone Mercedes-Benz Bradford store will close on 31 October 2024.

‘We know that store closures may raise a few questions, so we’ve tried to answer most of them for you in the FAQs.

‘This addresses questions about car finance, workshop bookings and servicing.’

The closure also follows another former Pendragon facility, Evans Halshaw Ford Northwich. closed its doors last month.

Car Dealer has approached Stratstone for comment.