William Jacks has announced losses of £513,000 on its Chiswick, west London, retail outlet designed to represent Rover, MG and new Mini. Its profit was halved.

Dato' Tan Kay Hock, William Jacks chairman, said BMW's surprise decision to dispose of Rover and MG had forced the group to rethink its plans. He said the new Mini would be sold at its three BMW dealerships.

William Jacks and the Sytner Group, which both hold a number of specialist car franchises, reflect on the difficult trading conditions which dominated the first-half of this year.

According to William Jacks' chairman, the pricing issue dampened customers' enthusiasm to buy cars. First-half pre-tax profit was £784,000 (down from £1.6m), with turnover dropping almost £5m to £82.1m.

Frank Sytner described January to June as “challenging”, blaming media and customer focus on prices.

Acquisition of Ixion increased turnover (£273.1m) by 43% over 1999's first-half but pre-tax profit was up by only 6% to £5.2m.