Lex Service to stop selling second-hand vehicles

Lex service, one of the best know names in British motoring, is to stop selling cars altogether following the announcement yesterday that its network of used car supercentres is to close.

Lex service, one of the best know names in British motoring, is to stop selling cars altogether following the announcement yesterday that its network of used car supercentres is to close.

The company had already sold its new car dealerships to Pendragon and now it intends to shut its seven used car centres by the end of the year.

Lex is thought to have been losing £2m-£3m a year on the business, which was launched in 1995 and sells around 10,000 second-hand vehicles a year.

Andy Harrison, Lex Service's chief executive, said that trading conditions in the second-hand car market were now "awful" with prices having fallen by 20-25 per cent in the last two years. Price reductions on new cars, which manufacturers started to introduce last month after Government pressure, are likely to hit second-hand prices even harder.

Lex expects to raise around £20m from the sale of the used car sites. It will use the proceeds to expand RAC Motoring Services, which it bought last year for £437m, and the Lex business service division, which specialises in vehicle management.