Stern Groep N.V.’s revenue in 2016 reached record levels, driven primarily by higher sales of new and used light commercial vehicles and used passenger cars. Revenue amounted to €1,097.6 million (two million euros higher than the previous year), a result that Stern is calling strong in a challenging market.
Sales of new passenger cars came out considerably lower in 2016. This is being attributed to the rush at the end of 2015 on the 7% additional tax liability rate for plug-in hybrids. This decrease was, however, almost fully compensated by dramatically higher sales of new and used light commercial vehicles and used passenger cars. Dealer Group Stern sold a total of 21,632 new passenger cars in 2016. While this is indeed a decrease of 10.7% from 2015, Stern did perform considerably better than the national market. Stern’s market share in new passenger cars for 2016 was 5.7%, up from 5.4% in 2015.
Meanwhile, Stern’s leasing arm grew 11.7% last year, now numbering 10,099 contracts. For the 12th year in a row, SternLease performed better than the national lease market, which grew by 5.7% to approximately 798,000 vehicles. The growth of the lease car fleet and improved interest conditions boosted Stern Mobility Solutions’ operating profit by 17.7% to €9.4 million.
Looking at the positive trends in the market, continuing growth of Stern Mobility Solutions and the effects of the restructuring of a number of business units, Stern feels justified in having high expectations for the results in 2017.
“Since March 2016, Stern has been working on a new, clearly formulated strategic plan that continues the path we started on several years ago of transforming from a major dealer holding company to an integrated and high-performing mobility group with an expanding range of products and services,” explains Stern CEO Henk van der Kwast.
