Marubeni Corporation (“Marubeni”), through Marubeni Auto Investment U.K. Limited (“MAIUK”), which operates a dealership business in Manchester and London, U.K., acquired 80% of shares of HPL Motors Limited (“HPLM”), a holding company of Heaton Park Garage Limited (“HPL”), which operates three used car specialty stores near Manchester.

Marubeni joined the car dealership business in the U.K. in 2000 and has expanded its operations to sell about 30,000 cars annually, both new and used. By acquiring the high creditworthiness and customer recognition that HPL has built up over the past 30 years since its establishment, as well as its platform for selling about 6,000 used cars per year, Marubeni aims to expand its business domain and establish a new revenue base.

The used car market in the U.K. is about four times the size of the new car market and is a non-exclusive market, which means that there is great potential for business expansion. MAIUK has been selling used cars, focusing on certified used cars (2-4 years old) of the nine brands* it already handles. By operating stores specializing in used cars, MAIUK intends to expand its customer base by eliminating restrictions on the brands it manages and expanding the age of the cars it handles to about seven years.

Through this acquisition, Marubeni will expand its used car sales business on a U.K.-wide scale with its acquired know-how at its core, and by combining this with its existing dealership business, it aims to promote the evolution and transformation of the car sales business in the U.K..

* Nine brands: TOYOTA, Lexus, Honda, Nissan, Mazda, KIA, Peugeot, Skoda, MG

HPL Overview
Company Name:	Heaton Park Garage Limited (Subsidiary of HPLM: 100%)
Location:	Manchester, United Kingdom
Establishment:	1992
Representative:	Jonathan Herman
Business Content:	Used Car Sales
Number of Bases:	3 (Preston, Oldham, Atherton)
Sales Units (FY2021):	6,381 Units
HPLM Overview
Company Name:	HPL Motors Group Limited
Location:	Manchester, United Kingdom
Establishment:	2021
Representative:	Jonathan Herman
Business Content:	Holding Shares of HPL
MAIUK Overview
Company Name:	Marubeni Auto Investment UK Limited  (Marubeni Corporation: 90%, Marubeni Europe plc: 10%)
Location:	Manchester, United Kingdom
Establishment:	2000
Representative:	Toru Masuyama
Business Content:	Investment in the car sales business and related businesses (Manchester, London)
Number of Bases:	34 (9 Brands, 30 Stores, 4 Repair Shops)
Sales Units (FY2021):	29,203 Units (New Cars: 14,276 Units / Used Cars: 14,927 Units)