Four months after the death of its founder Hugo Erb, the Swiss Ford and GM importer of the same name has ceased trading. Hugo Erb was also the official importer of Mitsubishi, Hyundai and Suzuki to Switzerland.

The collapse of the €3 billion-turnover Hugo Erb group is the biggest business failure in Switzerland since that of the national carrier Swissair. The Erb group, which consists of 82 separate companies, is expected to be broken up in the coming weeks, with French paper Les Echos reporting that negotiations on acquisition of assets are already under way.