‘Outstanding’ car dealership named the best in the UK at national awards after opening brand-new showroom
THE UK’s best Volvo dealership has been named – just a year after undergoing a stunning refurbishment.
As dealerships across the country have closed down due to the cost of living crisis, this outstanding dealership has gone from strength to strength.
Ray Chapman Motors was awarded the prestigious Dealer Group of the Year award at the 2025 Volvo Car UK’s Volvo Championship Awards.
The Bradford-based dealership opened up a purpose built showroom in 2023, before fully refurbishing their showroom in Huddersfield.
Both sites feature a state of the art workshop and MOT bay.
The Managering Director at Ray Chapman Motors, Duncan Chapman, opened up about the extraordinary win.
He said: “We’re delighted to have been awarded the Dealer Group of the Year award by Volvo Cars UK.
“We are always looking to improve so we can provide the best and highest level of customer service.
“We’re honoured to be representing Volvo and are already hard at work to maintain our title next year!”
The group were commended for being dedicated to delivering the “highest standards for the Volvo brand” and for having some of the “highest customer and employee retention rates”.
The dealership has an incredible 4.5/5 score on TrustPilot and has been rated “excellent” by customers.
One review said: “Excellent customer service and care.
“I have had many new cars over the years and for the past 3 years my Volvo has been serviced at Malton.
“They say they treat customers as they would wish to be treated themselves!
“Each and every time, they have delivered on those values and I can honestly say I have never had better customer service.
“I never thought I would ever say that about a car dealership.”
Another said: “The best experience I received compared to many other dealerships I been. Very professional.”
The news came after the motor industry was rocked by a wave of closures in 2024 and 2025.
Dealership closures in the UK
Peugeot announced the shock closure of two of their most popular sites.
Their Canterbury and Ashford locations will be closing at the end of March 2025.
According to one worker, employees didn’t “have much of an idea that this was going to happen”.
They said: “We were told it was due to downsizing by Marshall and that the industry as a whole is struggling.
“It’s left a lot of people shocked, and understandably quite scared.
“We felt we were performing well and we didn’t really have much of an idea that this was going to happen.”
However, Stellantis UK and Peugeot have said that the closures were decided with “mutual agreement”.
Volkswagen and Aldi dealerships will also be closing in three locations at the end of March.
The Audi Approved Hyde, and Volkswagen Wirral and Cheltenham dealerships will all be closing, as their owner Group 1 Automotive looks to cut costs.
A representative for the company said: “Due to the ongoing challenges presented by the current economic climate, we are unfortunately having to take some difficult decisions, which include the closure of our VW Wirral and Cheltenham stores, and Audi Approved Hyde.
“Despite the fantastic efforts from the teams there, these stores are not financially viable and so will close at the end of the month.
“We have spoken directly to all the teams impacted and our immediate focus is on supporting our impacted colleagues and working closely with them during this transition.
“We intend to redeploy as many colleagues as possible and support them to apply for other suitable roles within the business.”
Thanks to soaring production and transit costs, thanks to Brexit and the October budget, the cost of cars has rocketed.
Sales have plunged as a result, leading to the wave of closures.