Manchester car dealer Bauer Millett has ceased trading, with the loss of around 20 jobs.

The company, which traded in a showroom housed within listed viaduct arches in the centre of the Manchester, was the UK's only remaining Cadillac dealership after last decade's failed attempt by General Motors to launch the US car brand in the UK.

It also held franchises for Chrysler Jeep, Alfa Romeo and Abarth, and specialised in sourcing American cars independently for UK buyers.

The car dealer had traded for some 40 years since being established by Lawrence Millett and Chris Bauer, most recently headed by Mitch Millett following the death in 2005 of his father Lawrence.

According to the Manchester Evening News, Millett had to break the sad news of the company's closure to staff just before Christmas.

Millett told the newspaper that the business suffered when Alfa Romeo and Abarth's sales declined, while sales of the Chrysler and Jeep brands brought in to boost performance "never reached the levels" the manufacturers had expected.

”The competition within the network was extreme and being a city centre site the reality is that our overheads were unusually high. Even if you could sell the cars the margins simply weren’t there - it was a very expensive business because of its location," Millett said.

Click here to read AM's dealer profile on Bauer Millett from 2008.