UnitedAuto Group, the US parent of UK-based Sytner, has teamed up with Sytner chief executive Laurence Vaughan’s Opus Ventures and Transportation Resource Partners to acquire QEK Global Solutions, the logistics and vehicle management company.

The acquisition, from Lease-Plan Corporation, went through this week, and sees the partners take control of a company with long-standing relationships with a number of carmakers and Tier One suppliers, including DaimlerChrysler, Delphi, Ford, GM, Mazda, Nissan, Renault and the Volkswagen Group.

Roger Penske, UnitedAuto Group chairman, says: “We see considerable synergies between the services QEK provides and the range of services provided by our investor group. We are anxious to work with QEK’s management team to support its growth strategy as well as continue to improve upon the high quality of service offered to QEK’s clients.”

Those synergies are likely to include lower logistics costs for delivering cars from manufacturer to dealer and on to customer – distribution is one of the highest costs in automotive retail.