Pendragon appoints Bill Berman as CEO

Auto dealership Pendragon said on Wednesday that it has appointed industry veteran Bill Berman as its new chief executive officer with immediate effect.

Berman joined the company as a non-executive director in April 2019, and since October, he has been interim executive chairman. He will continue in the role of chairman on an interim basis while the process to recruit a permanent non-executive chairman continues, Pendragon said.

Prior to joining Pendragon, Berman was president and chief operating officer of AutoNation, the largest automotive retailer in America, where he was responsible for the group’s 26,000 associates and the operational performance of more than 300 new vehicle franchises, including new and used vehicle sales and aftersales.

Berman, who has more than 30 years of experience in automotive retail, said: "As chief executive officer, I look forward to building on strong relationships with our team members, customers, suppliers, our original equipment manufacturer partners and investors as we move forward together in a period of rapid change and innovation in the automotive retail sector."

At 0810 GMT, the shares were down 1 .1% at 12.34p.

Analysts at broker Liberum, which rates Pendragon at ‘sell’, said that while they had not met him, Berman has "great pedigree", having been president and COO of AutoNation.

"There is a lot to fix at Pendragon, the market backdrop is not helpful and the business is highly geared operationally and financially. A long way to go, but this looks like a good appointment."