Patterson Motor Group has bucked the trend of a slump in car sales by achieving record sales last year.
The Newcastle company sold 15,850 new and used cars and vans last year - a 16 per cent rise on 2004.
Sales of new fleet and business cars increased 31 per cent to 2,800.
New commercial vehicles were up 14 per cent to 8,000 and used car and commercial vehicles up three per cent to 2,900.
In addition, Patterson's group turnover has broken through the £200m mark for the first time at £215m, eight per cent higher than in 2004.
Ashley Winter, managing director of Patterson Motor Group, said: "Last year represented a difficult year generally for motor retailers and, in this context, our results are extremely robust. I expect that the market will be equally competitive in 2006, but I am confident that we'll achieve our objectives."
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