Virgin Cars

Virgin Cars (UK) Limited
Type	Limited
Industry	Automotive industry
Founded	May 2000; United Kingdom
Founder	Richard Branson; Ian Lancaster
Defunct	December 22, 2005
Headquarters	120 Campden Hill Road, London, United Kingdom
Number of locations	Salford Quays, City of Salford; (Showroom)
Area served	United Kingdom
Parent	Virgin Group
Website	www.virgincars.com; (via archive.org)

Virgin Cars Ltd was an internet automobile retailer, established by British entrepreneur Sir Richard Branson, and co founded by Ian Lancaster in May 2000. This was as part of the Virgin brand of companies.

The speed at which the company was launched, was perhaps the most startling aspect. It went from drawing board to fully fledged company, with logistics, purchase, finance, admin and web based sales operations, all being set up between December 1999 and May 2000 using Logica, the London-based IT services company. Branson predicted the company would sell 24,000 cars in the first year, with an £300m turnover.[1]

By October 2000, the company had sold over 2,000 cars, generating £30 million.[2]

In July 2001, the company started a subsidiary, Virgin Bikes.[3] By 2003, the company only managed to sell 12,000 cars in total.[4] On 23 May 2003, Branson opened Virgin Cars' first showroom in Salford, Greater Manchester. It was located at the end of the M602 motorway, near the A6/A57.

On 22 December 2005, the company stopped all operations and trading.[5] The building which it occupied, was stripped of all branding. In 2008, the site became the new home of the Robins And Day Manchester Peugeot dealership.

References

Brabbs, Cordella (25 May 2000). "Virgin Cars aims for £300m sales". Marketing.
"Branson launches Virgin Cars at Motor Show". PR Newswire. 17 October 2000.
"Virgin Cars". Marketing Week. 5 July 2001.
"RICHARD BRANSON'S FAILS: 14 Virgin Companies That Went Bust". Business Insider. 21 April 2012. Retrieved 16 May 2014.
"Virgin Cars Homepage after closing". Archived from the original on January 1, 2006. Retrieved 2013-05-04.CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)

External links

Virgin Cars at the Wayback Machine (archived December 21, 2005)

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[1] Brabbs, Cordella (25 May 2000). "Virgin Cars aims for £300m sales". Marketing.

[2] "Branson launches Virgin Cars at Motor Show". PR Newswire. 17 October 2000.

[3] "Virgin Cars". Marketing Week. 5 July 2001.

[4] "RICHARD BRANSON'S FAILS: 14 Virgin Companies That Went Bust". Business Insider. 21 April 2012. Retrieved 16 May 2014.

[5] "Virgin Cars Homepage after closing". Archived from the original on January 1, 2006. Retrieved 2013-05-04.CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)