Britain’s largest car dealer group with outlets in Wales has confirmed it has axed almost 500 staff.

The announcement by Pendragon, which operates dealerships in Cardiff and Swansea among its 400-strong national chain, was made yesterday morning in the giant car dealer group's pre-closing statement to the stock exchange, follows weeks of industry speculation about potential redundancies.

The group said it expected a “continuing exposure” to further economic slowdown for the remainder of the year and that it had “taken action” to reduce its fixed cost base.

“The company has taken action to reduce its fixed cost base and has recently completed a redundancy programme resulting in just under 500 job losses,” said the statement.

“Together with other actions taken, this is designed to help limit the impact of these difficult and competitive trading conditions.”