AM100 dealer group Cars2 has acquired a former Hayselden Volkswagen and Skoda dealership in a deal understood to be close to the £2.25 million asking price.
Cars2 has bought the former the dealership in Doncaster, adding a substantial 2.63-acre property to its Yorkshire dealership portfolio.
The dealer group acquired the Marshgate dealership from the administrators of T Hayselden (Doncaster) which provides almost 25,000 sq ft of showroom, office and workshop accommodation, alongside a large surfaced yard and a communal central area with 295 parking spaces.
Watling Real Estate and Rapleys were instructed to sell the dealership by Mark Hodgett and David Acland of FRP Advisory, the joint administrators of T Hayselden.
Alex Sweetman, a director in the Leeds office of Watling, said: “The site on North Bridge Road, Doncaster, attracted a lot of attention and has been sold to a private investor.”
Cars2 expands in Yorkshire
The acquisition expands Cars2’s property interests in South Yorkshire, where the group already operates a network of franchised and used car dealerships.
Cars2 represents brands including Hyundai, Nissan, Renault, MG, Dacia, Seat, Omoda and Jaecoo. It also operates a prestige used car dealership stocking vehicles from marques including McLaren, Ferrari, Bentley and Porsche.
The former Volkswagen dealership occupies the front of the Doncaster property, alongside North Bridge Road and the York Road roundabout.
Its 16,923 sq ft building includes showroom, office and workshop space. The former Skoda dealership to the rear provides a further 6,840 sq ft of showroom, office and workshop accommodation.
Employee-owned dealer group
Cars2 was transferred by its shareholders to an Employee Ownership Trust in February 2025, with founder Allan Otley remaining as chief executive alongside the group’s existing senior management team.
The business employed more than 250 people and operated from 17 dealerships at the time of the transaction.
Otley established Cars2 in 2006 as a single used car dealership before expanding it into a franchised dealer group. It entered the AM100 in 2022 and was ranked as the UK’s 96th-largest dealer group by turnover when the employee ownership deal completed. In the latest edition of the AM100 rankings, the business rose to 89th position with a turnover of £191.5 million.
In 2022, Arnold Clark’s bid to acquire Yorkshire based franchised car retailer ended after the two businesses were unable to strike a deal.
Hayselden, founded in 1959, previously operated four dealerships across Doncaster and Barnsley. Its Doncaster business entered administration in December, with its workshop equipment, specialist tooling and showroom furniture subsequently offered through a separate online auction.
Ensure you always receive AM insights. Make us a preferred source of news on Google