Mercedes-Benz Acquisition

Inchcape PLC
28 June 2004

28 June 2004

      Inchcape announce acquisition of five Mercedes-Benz dealerships

Inchcape plc, the international automotive services group, today announces the
acquisition of five Mercedes-Benz and Smart dealerships, increasing its total UK
representation to eight sites and creating the largest contiguous territory for
Mercedes-Benz and Smart in the UK.

The acquisition of Southwell Motor Co. Limited on 25 June 2004, and its
subsidiary company Leadley Limited, adds four businesses in Derby, Nottingham,
Loughborough and Mansfield to Inchcape's portfolio. These sites complement the
Group's existing market area of Mercedes-Benz and Smart dealerships in Coventry,
Stratford-upon-Avon and Oxford, offering excellent business synergies and
generating significant scale.

On 30 June 2004 Leadley Limited will acquire an additional dealership in
Leicester thus increasing the total number of dealerships purchased to five.
These sites are together expected to generate new car sales of 2,700 units and
used car sales of 1,800 units per annum.

The total consideration is expected to be around £28.0m of which £15.0m is for
the equity of Southwell Motor Company and c. £3.0m for assumed debt. The
remainder is for the Leicester business and two freehold properties. Total
consideration will be satisfied by £2.0m of loan notes, with the remainder in
cash.

Peter Johnson, Group Chief Executive of Inchcape, commented:

'We are delighted with this development, which is a further step forward in our
UK growth strategy of building scale contiguous territories with our selected
manufacturer partners.

'The acquisition of these businesses creates the largest contiguous territory in
the UK for these prestigious brands.'

Notes to editors

Inchcape, as an international automotive services group, provides quality
representation for its manufacturer partners, a choice of channels to market and
products for its retail customers and a range of business services for its
corporate customers. Operations are focused on the UK, Greece, Belgium,
Australia, Hong Kong and Singapore. Inchcape's activities include exclusive
Import, Distribution and Retail, Business Services, automotive E-commerce and
Financial Services. Operating in a number of our markets, our key manufacturer
partners are Toyota/Lexus, Subaru, Ferrari/Maserati, BMW, the Premier Automotive
Group of Ford, Mazda and Volkswagen.

Inchcape plc has today also announced its pre-close trading statement. To view
the release, and for further information on the Group, please visit us at
www.inchcape.com


For further information, please contact:

Group Communications, Inchcape plc
020 7546 0022

John Olsen/Tom Leatherbarrow, Hogarth Partnership Limited
020 7357 9477


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