Inchcape reported this morning that its third quarter trading performance was slightly ahead of expectations, with revenue from the car dealer and distributor's worldwide operations up 2.2% year-on-year to £1.459 billion.
Like-for-like revenue was 4.1% ahead.
Chief executive Andre Lacroix said: "Our trading performance in the third quarter was slightly ahead of our expectations as we benefited from the premiumisation of demand in emerging markets and as the temporary disruption to the supply chain following the earthquake in Japan improved faster than anticipated in our distribution businesses in Europe, South Asia and North Asia.
"In the UK, the luxury segment continued to outperform in an increasingly competitive environment while the demand for new cars remained robust in Australia."
Lacroix said the group continued to benefit from solid margin performance, tight cost control and strong cash conversion.
Its UK business delivered" a solid trading performance in a challenging trading environment" and continued to outperform the industry with market share gains in the luxury and premium segments, while the demand for used cars and aftersales remained robust, he added.