Colt Car Company

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Colt Car Company Ltd
Type	Private limited company
Founded	March 21, 1974
Headquarters	Watermoor, Cirencester, Gloucestershire, UK
Key people	Jim Tyrrell (Managing Director)
Industry	Motor vehicle import and distribution
Revenue	£554 million
Employees	350
Parent	Colt Automotive Ltd (51%) Mitsubishi Motors (49%)
Subsidiaries	Spitalgate Dealer Services Shogun Finance Colt Mid West
Website	Mitsubishi-Cars.co.uk

The Colt Car Company Limited is a privately owned business established in 1974 as part of Mitsubishi Motors' global expansion programme for the purpose of importing and distributing cars and light commercial vehicles in the United Kingdom. For the first decade of its existence, British market Mitsubishis were sold under the "Colt" marque.

It is a 51/49 joint venture between Colt Automotive Ltd and Mitsubishi Motors Corporation. Three subsidiary companies exist: Spitalgate Dealer Services, which specialises in dealer wholesale stocking, Shogun Finance, the retail finance company, and Colt Cars Mid West, which owns eight Mitsubishi dealerships across the south of England.

[edit] Sales since 1995

For the first twenty years of its existence, business was restricted by voluntary import quotas, which limited the company to around 10,000 sales per year. The relaxation of these quotas in 1996, together with the introduction of European-built models at the NedCar facility in Born which were unaffected by the quota, allowed for a rapid expansion in the late 1990s.