Marshall Motor Holdings is claiming the title of the UK’s largest Skoda dealer after its takeover of four dealerships from Progress Group.

Progress Group will continue to operate its remaining three Suzuki dealerships at Kettering, Letchworth and Milton Keynes, its managing director Terence Byrne confirmed .

Marshall had recently added two outlets representing the Czech brand of Volkswagen Group from Sandicliffe Motor Group, and has now added the Progress Skoda dealerships at Bedford, Harlow, Letchworth and Northampton.

Once rebranded, these take the total number of Marshall Skoda dealerships to 11.

Marshall said the deal was done with the full support of Skoda.

Chief executive Daksh Gupta said: “These acquisitions are an exciting milestone for Marshall. The acquired businesses have good potential for growth and improvement in their operating performance as part of a scaled and focused division.

“We believe it is the right time to grow our portfolio with Skoda and these acquisitions demonstrate our commitment to our stated strategy to grow with existing brand partners in new geographic territories."

Marshall expects the Skoda dealerships to generate around £250,000 profit per site in the long term, according to a research note from Zeus Capital.

The two recent deals mean that Marshall now has a contiguous area of Skoda outlets along the M1/M4/M25 and A34 corridor, the company said.

“This appears to be a good time to invest in this brand with 3.2% market share, and 13% growth in the last five years. There is significant product to come, particularly across the SUV sector, and Skoda is also expected to benefit from the VW Group’s €44bn investment in mobility solutions and electrification strategy,” said Mike Allen, an analyst with Zeus Capital, which works with Marshall Motor Holdings.